Daijiworld Media Network - Sullia (SP)

Sullia, Feb 18: A tiled house in Uttambe in Guttigar near Subrahmanya in the taluk was completely gutted in an accidental fire on Tuesday February 17. Tragically, Harshita, 18-year-old daughter of Narayana Gowda and Saroja couple, who was alone inside the house at the time, was charred alive.

Fire engulfed the house when Harshita was alone at home. It is not yet known what caused the fire to ignite and rage. It is being guessed that electrical short circuit or fire mishap could have burnt the house down.

At the time of the tragedy, girl's father, Narayana, a carpenter by profession, was working at Subrahmanya temple, while her mother was in the house of a relative. Her brother was away in fields relating to some family-related work.

This house is in a secluded spot, and there are no houses in the immediate neighbourhood. On Tuesday afternoon, people living in houses some distance away noticed that thick smoke was billowing out of Narayana's house, and they could hear noises made by bursting of over-heated tiles. The locals immediately got involved with the task of dousing the fire, but as the fire had already spread to the entire house, fire brigade was summoned to the spot.

The fire was extinguished later. The entire roof of the house had burnt down by then, and charred remains of the girl was found lying among the burnt materials. No one could guess why she could not escape from fire,although it is generally guessed that she would have been fast asleep when fire broke out, and by the time she woke up, fire would have surrounded her. No clear-cut clues or information about the incident could be gathered, but some unsubstantiated rumours are making the rounds.

It is being said that the girl was not happy with the boy chosen to be her future husband by her parents. As her parents were unrelenting, she might have poured kerosene on herself and ignited fire, it is suspected. The kerosene spread all over the house and burnt the entire house.

Tahsildar, Srinivas Shetty, and Mescom assistant engineer,, Boraiah, visited the spot. Sullia police circle inspector, Sathish, and Subrahmanya station house officer, Nagesh Kadri, also went to the spot, recorded details and took up investigation.

It is said that gold ornaments worth Rs 1 lac, Rs 25,000 in cash, and household materials were burnt down in the incident. The tahsildar said samples of burnt materials would be sent to forensic laboratory for assessment.