A man, Sonabondhu Barman, alias Nesha, has been accused of pouring kerosene oil on his wife and setting her on fire over a domestic issue yesterday night. The incident took place at Jelepara under the Kumargrame police station in Alipurduar.
Sources said that Minati Barman died of burn injuries, along with her seven-year-old son, Aakash Barman, who tried desperately to save her.
The accused man also sustained burn injuries when he later went to save his son, it is learnt. “Nesha often used to get into heated altercations with his wife over domestic matters. He was drunk when the incident took place. He poured kerosene on his wife and set her on fire. They have two sons and their younger son went to his mother when he saw her burning and the child too died of burns.
Nesha tried to save his son but he failed. He has sustained injuries while trying to save his son,” sources said.
Villagers rushed to the spot and brought the flames under control. They then took the three to the Kamakhaguri Local hospital from where they were referred to the Alipurduar District hospital, where the mother-son duo died at night, sources said.