Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SP)

Bantwal, Jun 16: In a tragic incident which happened at Sangabettu in the taluk on the night of Monday June 15, a man and his younger sister, both of whom were unmarried, ended their lives together by dousing their bodies with petrol before torching themselves.

The deceased brother-sister duo has been identified as Neelayya Shettogar (42) and Kesari (39) from Sangabettu.

Both of them were mired in health problems, sources said.

After around 11 pm on Monday, they immolated themselves inside a room of their house. Neelayya's brother and his wife live in the same house. They were asleep in another room. They heard sounds of wailing let out by the two who were going up in flames. With help from locals, they were shifted to the government hospital at Bantwal but by then both had lost their lives.

Bantwal rural police sub-inspector, Prasanna and staff visited the spot and undertook scrutiny.

It is gathered that Neelayya was operating a handloom in the past but had discontinued it because of ill health.