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Arson deaths: 'Man angered by daughter's lower-caste marriage'
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Fri, Jan 04, 2008
The Straits Times
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OAK FOREST (ILLINOIS) - A BLAZE that killed a couple and their three-year-old son in their suburban Chicago apartment may have had its point of origin on the other side of the world, in India's ancient Hindu caste system.
Prosecutors say Subhash Chander, an immigrant from India, doused the place with petrol and set the fire - killing his pregnant daughter, son-in-law and their child - because he believed the young woman had married beneath her station.
Chander told investigators he was upset with his daughter Monika Rani and her husband Rajesh Kumar for what he saw as 'a cultural slight', said prosecutor Robert Milan.
Chander said the couple had married without his consent and Mr Kumar was from a lower caste in India than Ms Rani's family, he added.
| Chander, 57, was held without bail on Wednesday, charged with three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated arson and intentional homicide of an unborn child.
Ms Rani, 22, was five months' pregnant with the couple's second child.
On Saturday night, firefighters were called to a blaze swiftly consuming an apartment complex which had more than 70 people inside.
People raced down the stairs and others jumped from balcony windows. Remarkably, the authorities said, most escaped without serious injuries.
The authorities said the fire started outside the door of apartment 209, where the family lived.
A witness told the police that just after the fire started, he saw a man matching Chander's description in the hallway smelling of petrol and carrying a plastic container. A petrol station worker told the police that Chander had bought fuel about two hours before the fire.
Chander acknowledged setting the fire, the authorities said, but said his son-in-law had pushed him, leading him to spill the petrol, which he had bought for a relative.
Chander claimed he grew angry, pulled out his lighter and set the apartment on fire, Mr Milan said. But prosecutors said they doubted there had been a fight.
ASSOCIATED PRESS, NEW YORK TIMES
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