Fed up with taunts, teen boy sets elderly grandparents on fire

In an appalling incident reported from Tamil Nadu’s Salem district, a 16-year-old boy burned down his grandparents’ abode on Monday. killing the elderly couple in the blaze. The boy carried out the crime because his now-deceased grandparents compared him with his cousins and insulted him, as per reports.

The deceased victims were identified as Kaatu Raja, aged 70 and his wife Kaasiyammal, aged 60. On Monday their neighbours heard their cry for help and came rushing to the spot. The neighbour’s found the elderly couple’s house engulfed in flames.

As maintined by a report in The Indian Express, the elderly couple’s house was locked. After unsuccessful attempts to put out the fire and break open the door to rescue the couple, neighbours notified the fire service officials. Soon, firefighters and rescue team came to the location and tried to rescue the elderly couple. Sadly, the couple lost their lives due to severe burn injuries.

The corpse of the elderly couple were sent to a government run hospital for autopsy. In the meantime, their grandson turned himself in to cops. “The boy was staying with his parents and had come to his grandparents’ house to commit the act. He had an aversion to relatives including uncles and grandparents. The boy said his grandparents constantly compared him with his paternal uncle and his children and told him that he should be like them instead of wasting his time. This agitated the boy,” Attur DSP Immanuel Gnanasekar said.

The teenager accused has confessed to having killed his grandparents by setting their house on fire. He has been charged under Section 302 of the IPC.

This unfortunate incident comes weeks after a woman in Tamil Nadu’s Kizhathuval killed her father-in-law by poisoning his food, reportedly after he sexually harassed her in the absence of her husband.

The accused, identified as Kanimozhi, later confessed to the crime before the village administrative officer (VDO), who then called the cops. Thereafter, the woman was taken into police custody. 

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