AIIMS-Patna staffer's children burned alive at home after returning from school

Source: Pexel

In a shocking incident that has left Nagwan village on the outskirts of Patna reeling, two schoolchildren were found burned to death in their own home, with initial police investigations pointing to a premeditated act of murder. According to a report by TOI, the bodies of 14-year-old Anjali Kumari and her younger brother, eight-year-old Anshu, were discovered on Thursday afternoon by their mother, who is employed as a security guard at AIIMS-Patna.

The siblings had returned from school and were reportedly fast asleep in their room when, as police suspect, unknown assailants entered the house, murdered the children and set their bodies alight. The crime came to light when their mother, Shobha Devi, returned home to the devastating scene. Locals, drawn by her anguished screams, quickly gathered and alerted both the police and the children’s father, Lalan Kumar Gupta, a clerk with the Election Commission office in Patna.

As the tragedy unfolded, police, led by Phulwarisharif SDPO (II) Deepak Kumar, arrived to begin their investigation. Kumar confirmed, “We received information around 3 pm that two children had been burned to death while asleep. The mother found the bodies upon returning home. Both parents were at work, so the children were alone at the time of the incident,” TOI reported. He stated that the motive behind the gruesome act remained unclear, with the investigation very much ongoing.

City SP (west) Bhanu Pratap Singh was cited by TOI as saying that preliminary findings heightened suspicions of foul play. Singh highlighted that the family had informed police the room’s door and windows were locked from the outside, raising disturbing questions about the sequence of events. He said: “It will be investigated whether the children were killed first and then set ablaze or whether the fire was the cause of death.”

Investigators have called in forensic experts and a canine squad to assist, while CCTV footage from the area is being reviewed in search of leads. Meanwhile, the brutality of the incident, occurring while the children were alone at home, has provoked outrage among the locals. Distressed villagers and neighbours described Anjali and Anshu as well-liked, quiet children known for their bright disposition both at school and in the neighbourhood. “They were innocent. What kind of person would do this to sleeping children?” TOI quoted one neighbour as asking, close to tears.

In the wake of the crime, tempers flared in Nagwan, with grieving villagers blocking the Patna-Janipur Road in protest and setting tyres ablaze.