16-Year-Old Boy Accused Of Setting Grandparents, House On Fire

An elderly couple was charred to death after their 16-year-old grandson set them on fire.

The shocking incident happened in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu during the early hours of Monday, reported The Hindu.

Reports identified the deceased as Kaaturaja, 75, a farm laborer and his wife Kasiammal, 60. Police said the boy set fire to the thatched house with an asbestos roof where his grandparents slept early in the morning.

Though the elderly couple tried to escape, the doors were locked from outside. On hearing the commotion, the neighbors rushed in to help, but the flames were too high for them to come anywhere near the house.

Fire personnel and police immediately arrived at the location and rushed the couple to the hospital. Both were declared dead on arrival.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that the teen was upset with his grandparents. He resorted to the murderous step after they constantly compared him to his cousins.

The boy later surrendered to the police. "As they repeatedly spoke bad of him, the boy developed a grudge against them. He got very disturbed," a senior police official was quoted by DT Next. The officers said the boy was not under the influence of any substance when he carried out the crime.

Police have not revealed the identity of the accused or the charges against him as he is a minor.

A similar incident had happened in Pennsylvania when a 67-year-old man set his house on fire, killing his son and two grandchildren. The man also died in the fire. Police said Jafar Afshar killed his son, 36-year-old Saeed Afshar and two grandchildren, an 8-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, by pouring an accelerant inside the home and lighting a fire. Authorities did not reveal the motive for the killings but said Afshar was showing "abnormal behavior" before the fire.