Boy sets himself ablaze after mum snatches phone, tells him to study

Mangalore Today News Network

Dec 01, 2015: A 12-year-old boy tried to commit suicide after his mother scolded him for playing games on the cell phone instead of studying. He went into the adjoining room, poured kerosene on himself and set his body afire. However, as soon as his skin started to burn, he ran to the bathroom and drenched himself in water, after which his family rushed him to hospital.

 

The incident took place on Saturday night in the Ganesh Nagar locality, where the Std VII student, Sayed Kaif Ali, lives with his parents and two older siblings. Around 8.30 pm, the boy returned from tuition classes and asked his mother for food, and she gave him some money to buy instant noodles.

When he returned, his mother was watching TV with the rest of the family, so he made and finished the noodles. He went back to the bedroom and picked up the mobile phone kept there to play games, when his mother shoved him aside and snatched it.

She shouted at him and told him to study instead. Incensed, the boy walked into the living room and emptied a kerosene can onto himself before starting himself on fire.

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His uncle, Waseem, who had recently come to live with the family, said, “We all were watching TV in the bedroom when Kaif asked for the mobile but his mother told him to study instead. It made himvery angry. Suddenly we heard his screams from the bathroom and saw that Kaif was on fire and was pouring water on himself. We put out the flames and took him to the hospital.”

Neither Kaif’s mother, nor his father — a shoe salesman in the Masjid area in south Mumbai — were available for comment. Doctors at the local hospital said the boy had sustained 25 per cent burns on his face, chest and hands. His treatment is currently on, and the Kandivli police are waiting to record his statement.

 

Courtesy: MIDDAY