A pall of gloom descended on the Kaushik household in Outer Delhi’s Sultanpuri on Sunday when two members of the family, a pregnant woman and a 13-year-old girl, were charred to death at their residence. The unfortunate incident happened hours after Rahul Kaushik, youngest son in the family, had got married on Saturday night.
locals of Krishna Vihar shared that the Kaushik family was gearing up for good news. “On April 29, Rahul got married and two months later, his sister-in-law Anjali was to deliver. Ek aag ne sab khatam kar dia,” lamented a neighbour.
“The fire was reported at around 4.40 am at Krishna Vihar area of Sultanpuri where it engulfed a three-storey house. 30-year-old Anjali and her 13-year-old niece, Aditi, were found burnt to death at their first floor room while Anjali’s 8-year-old daughter Tavishka suffered 60 per cent burns and is undergoing treatment at the AIIMS trauma centre,” said a police official.
Satyapal Sharma, a relative of the Kaushik family, told The Pioneer, “On Saturday night, Rahul, youngest son of Ramtirth, got married at a farm house in Samaypur Badli. The wedding was a grand affair.
“Two hours before the bride was to come to her husband’s house, Anjali, Rahul’s elder sister-in-law, accompanied by her mother-in-law Rajwanti and the kids, had left for their home in Sultanpuri to make the arrangements. At around 3 am, they all went to their rooms to get a short nap. While Rajwanti was sleeping in the room located on the ground floor, Anjali went to catch some sleep with her daughter Tavishka and her niece Aditi.
“A few minutes past 3 am, Rajwanti ji woke up to find there is a short-circuit fire from the AC in the room. She managed to escape and called the neighbours who informed the police and the fire department,” said Sharma.
A fire department official said that it took half an hour to douse the flames. When the team of fire-fighters led by Sumit Telhan reached the first floor, they found three persons, a woman and two children, burnt.
The police said that they rushed all the three to the Sanjay Gandhi hospital where Anjali, who was seven months pregnant, and Aditi, a class eight student, were declared brought dead on arrival. In critical condition, Tavishka was referred to the AIIMS.
Police further said that they have registered a case under Sections 336, 337 and 304-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Fire officials said that in the preliminary inquiry no foul play is suspected. “In the preliminary investigation, we suspect that the fire broke out in the air-conditioner on the room located in the ground floor.”
On hearing the news of the fire at her new house, the newly-married girl went into a state of shock.
According to relatives, the Kaushik family had three sons - Ankit, Sunny and Rahul - and three daughters. The family dealt in the businesses of artificial jewellery and property.
In another incident of fire, 51-year-old Ashok Gupta succumbed to burn injuries when a fire broke out at his hutment in South Delhi’s Malviya Nagar.