Miner Shantaiah was in a live-in relationship with one Padma following which his sons allegedly nursed a grudge against him.
Venkatapur (Mancherial): With evidence increasingly pointing to a murder angle in the gruesome death of six people, including two children, in a midnight blaze at Venkatapur, police suspect an illicit affair which took the form of a live-in relationship could be the motive.
According to locals and police sources, an extramarital affair between Shanigarapu Shanthaiah, a coal miner from Srirampur and Padma, wife of Masu Shivaiah, allegedly prompted Shanthaiah’s relatives to resort to the macabre act of arson. Shanthaiah had befriended Padma in 2012 and they had an illicit affair, which was reportedly accepted by Shivaiah and slowly became a live-in relationship. This however drew the ire of Shanthaiah’s relatives including his legal wife and her sons.
Shanthaiah was living along with Padma and Shivaiah in the tile-roofed hut built with cement bricks and wood columns at Venkatapur for quite a long time. Upset with this, his wife Srujana filed a divorce case with a family court in 2012. The matter is still pending in court. One of Shanthaiah’s sons had picked an argument with Shanthaiah a few days ago over transferring his job under the dependent employment scheme apart from giving his property to his legal heirs.
Shanthaiah, a native of Uthkur village in Luxettipet and working with RK6 underground mine in Srirampur, was reluctant to transfer his job and assets to his legal heirs, following alleged pressure from Padma who was expecting the job to be given to her son Sandeep. Shanthaiah was about to retire in a year or two.
Police suspect Shanthaiah’s legal heirs nursed a grudge and could be behind the suspected murder. Initial evidence indicate that the perpetrators locked the hut and doused it with highly flammable substance before setting it on fire when all the six were asleep inside around 12.30 am.
Government Whip Balka Suman, who visited the spot, assured all support to the kin of the victims on behalf of the government.
Actual cause not yet known: Officials
Fire and Rescue Services officials said the actual cause of fire was yet to be ascertained and that there were strong doubts that it could be an act of arson. District Fire Officer B Ajay Kumar told Telangana Today that no source of the fire were found and that the cause of the fire was unknown. As of now, it was being termed arson. Stating that the residents of the hut could have survived if it was a natural fire, since a natural fire would not have spread so fast, he said lamps and electric short-circuit, earlier suspected to have triggered the fire, were ruled out as per primary inquiry.
The official stated that the central control room had received a panic call from a local at 1.40 am. A fire engine from Bellampally fire station was sent to the village. Due to a communication gap, the vehicle headed to Jenda Venkatapur. By the time it reached Venkatapur, the fire had become a full blown blaze and spread, he said. Fire officials suspect the fire intensified so fast and comparatively quickly than a natural fire due to the addition of fuel or some inflammable substance. They observed that the cement wall could sustain a fire for two hours but the six persons were burnt alive even before they realized that they were trapped in flames. Neighbours had made an unsuccessful attempt to douse the flames and rescue the residents, they said.
Lucky escape for Padma’s parents
For elderly couple Bathula Lingaiah and Kamala, it was a lucky escape from the midnight blaze that claimed six lives, including that of their daughter Padma. They woke up on Saturday to a call from a policeman who told them about Padma’s death along with that of her husband Shivaiah.
Lingaiah, a 77-year old daily wage earner from Mallampet village in Kotapalli mandal and his mentally unsound wife Kamala, had felt insulted and left Padma’s home after being chided by her for chewing tobacco and spitting on the walls on Friday evening. They had gone to their nephew Banaiah’s home in the same village on Friday night.
“I was staying with Padma and helping them in raising maize, red gram and other crops for the last few months. She reprimanded me for spitting on the walls around 5 pm. I was humiliated and left her home immediately. We went Banaiah’s home and slept there. We would have died if we had stayed with our daughter,” Lingaiah told Telangana Today.
Visiting aunt’s home proved fatal to widow
Meanwhile, Nemalikonda Mounika, a 24-year-old widow from Kondampet village in Kotapalli mandal, who was Padma’s niece, had arrived at Venkatapur just five days ago. She, her daughters Himabindu (4) and Sweety (2) were visiting Padma after a long time. Mounika’s husband Jagan had passed away due to illness a year back. Her parents had died 10 years ago. However, the visit turned to be ill-fated, with Mounika and both the children being charred to death.
Mounika was planning to celebrate Himabindu’s 5th birthday on December 25, a relative said.