Kolkata: An 82-year-old woman, Purnima Dey, died of burns she recived in her sleep early on Tuesday. Police said prima facie, it seems that her quilt had landed on the room heater and caught fire.
The incident was reported around 1.30 am on Tuesday from a flat on Nafarchandra Das Road near Behala Market. Dey was rushed to a private hospital in Khidderpore with 90% burns and later shifted to a hospital off EM Bypass, where she died around noon.Police carried out post-mortem and handed over the body to her family members.
Dey used to stay in a third-floor flat along with her two sons and their kin. One of her sons is a trader and the other is a private company executive. On Tuesday night, her younger son had arranged a room heater for his mother.
“Around 1.30 am, the family heard shouts from Dey’s room. They rushed in to find Dey coming out of the room, with her clothes on fire. Cops came to know of the incident from hospital,” said an officer.
Cops said since no complaint has been received, a forensic examination of the room is unlikely to take place.
“It is clear by visiting the place of occurrence that this was an unfortunate accident. However, we have sent the room heater for forensic examination to ascertain there was no short-circuit,” said an officer.