The deceased, Manshidas Mahant, lived with his seven sons and their wives. The family routinely lit a fire inside the house to cope with the cold. On Sunday night, they gathered around the bonfire as usual before heading to their rooms. Manshidas, however, spread a mat near the fire, wrapped himself in a blanket, and fell asleep there.
Family struggled to douse the flames
Around midnight, the family woke up to his screams. When they rushed outside, they found him engulfed in flames along with his blanket. They managed to extinguish the fire using a bedsheet, but by then he had sustained nearly 80% burns.
Succumbed to injuries after two days
The family applied ink as first aid before taking him to the Medical College Hospital. He battled for life for two days but died late at night.
According to his son, 9–10 family members had been sitting around the fire in the front room earlier in the evening. Everyone went to bed afterward, but they were awakened by his sudden cries for help and found him in flames.
Outpost In-charge Vishnu Narayan Chouhan said statements have been recorded based on information from the Medical College. The case diary will be forwarded to the concerned police station for further investigation.
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