Mumbai: Locked in flat by parents, teen dies in fire, say police

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, May 13, 2019 : A 16-year-old girl, locked in her one-room flat by her parents who had gone out to attend a wedding, was killed in a fire that broke out at her home in Mumbai s Dadar (West) on Sunday, police said, Yahoo reported.

 

The police identified the girl as Shravani Chavan, who lived with her parents in the building at Saitan Chowki Police Colony.

Her parents had gone out to attend a wedding in Thane. She was trapped in the flat, which was locked from outside, said a police officer.

Her father, Ashok Chavan, is a police naik attached to Vakola police station, sources said.

Around 12.45 pm, neighbours saw smoke billowing from the flat on the third floor of Om Sai Ram building and alerted the fire brigade. Four fire engines and three water tankers were rushed to the spot. The fire was on the top floor of the three-storey building… it was put off in an hour, said the police officer.

Avinash Patil, a neighbour said, When we saw the smoke, we got everybody from the floor to run outside.

According to a Mumbai Fire Brigade official, the fire started in flat number 37 Chavan s home. An official, who was part of the fire fighting operation, said, The fire spread to the electric wiring among other things. When we reached there, we found that the flat was locked. Fire had also spread to two other flats 36 and 38. Both were locked at the time of the incident. The cause of fire will be ascertained after investigation.

Chief Fire Officer P S Rahangdale said: Flat number 37 was locked and the lock had to be broken by local residents. Locks of the other two flats were also broken by the firemen in the presence of the police. Shravani s body was charred when it was removed from her flat.

Sunil Gavkar, senior police inspector, Dadar police station, said: We have filed an accidental death report. We found a bottle of kerosene. We will look into it.

It could not be ascertained why the parents had locked the girl inside the home.

Gavkar added, The parents are in trauma right now, we will question them after we receive the post-mortem report.