Man locks four children inside room before setting wife ablaze in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: A 48-year-old man locked his four children inside a room before pouring petrol on his sleeping wife and setting her on fire in a chilling attempt to kill her in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district late on Wednesday.The incident took place at Railha Bhattha village in Pachpedi region. The 45-year-old woman suffered severe burns and was admitted at a private hospital for treatment, where her condition is stated to be critical. Police have booked her husband, Jaliram Yadav, for attempted murder. He remains one the run.Bilaspur ASP Pankaj Patel told TOI, the couple was sleeping in the courtyard while their three daughters and a son were asleep inside the house.

Police said the accused first bolted the children's room from outside to prevent them from coming to their mother's rescue, before dousing his wife with petrol and setting her on fire.Awakened by the flames, the woman screamed for help and desperately rolled onto a heap of sand in the courtyard to douse the fire. Her cries alerted neighbours, who rushed to the spot and helped extinguish the flames.The children, trapped inside the locked room, could only watch through a window as their mother struggled to save herself.

After managing to put out the flames, the injured woman opened the room and freed them, police said.In her statement, the survivor alleged that her husband had suspected infidelity for years and frequently assaulted her despite their nearly 30-year marriage. She told police that the attack was the culmination of years of abuse.Based on her statement, police registered an FIR against Jaliram Yadav under attempt to murder and other relevant sections. A search was launched in neighbouring Baloda Bazar district after inputs that he had fled there, but he could not be traced till the filing of this report.