Anantapur, March 14: A spurned lover burnt alive the woman with whom he had an affair and her family members at Podaralla village in BK Samudram mandal late last night.
The woman Subbalakshmi (28), her father Nagamuni (58) and her son Srinivasulu (9) succumbed to the burns while her mother Kondamma and sister Chandrika are battling for life.
The accused has been identified as Manjunatha (32), a weaver of the same village.
Last night Manjunatha climbed atop Subbalakshmi’s thatched house, removed some tiles and poured petrol on Subbalakshmi and her kin while they were asleep and burnt them. He then set the hut also on fire to be doubly sure that the entire family would have no escape.
Villagers who noticed the house on fire doused the flames. By then, three of the family had already died and two others sustained severe burns. The injured were rushed to the hospital.
Subbalakshmi is learnt to have separated from her husband and had been living at her parent’s house along with her son. She had had an affair with Manjunatha. Her parents came to know of the affair after he allegedly began harassing Subbalakshmi for money. Disapproving of the affair, Subbalakshmi’s parents asked their daughter and Manjunatha to end the relationship.
Irked, Manjunatha nursed a grudge against the family and planned to wipe out the whole family. DSP V Harshavardhana Raju and BK Samudram police rushed to the village
–Agencies