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| Wednesday, 17 July 2002 |
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by Rajmi Manatunga A 35 year old woman died of burns recently when her clothes caught fire engulfing her in flames while preparing tea. This was revealed at the inquest held into the death of Dona Chandralatha Ranasinghe of 657/B4, Appunwatta, Wattala by the City Coroner Edward Ahangama. Gintota Newton Prasanna (24), the owner of the house where the deceased had been living with her husband in evidence said that the deceased paid a monthly rent of Rs 500 for the house. To his knowledge there were no disagreements between Chandralatha and her husband. On May 27, the deceased was sitting in the backyard of the house screaming of pain. Her body had caught fire. I along with her husband rushed her to the Colombo National Hospital after extinguishing the fire. She didn't tell me as to how she caught fire even when I went to see her in hospital later," he said. Nallaiya Pushparaja (47), the husband of the deceased in evidence said that he had been married to Chandralatha for 20 years. They have three children who were living on their own. "I lived with my wife in a rented house. On that particular day she was going to bathe wearing polyester clothes. Before leaving, my wife went into the kitchen to prepare tea. It was around 2.45 pm and I was having lunch. Then I heard her screaming and saw that she had caught fire. I extinguished the fire using a soaked carpet and took her to the hospital. She told me that her clothes caught fire while she pouring tea. My wife died after admission to the hospital and I identified her body," he said. The autopsy report issued by Doctor M.N Raul Haque said death was due to septicemia caused by infected burn injuries. The Coroner postponed the inquest till July 23 and ordered the relatives and children of the deceased to be present in court on that day. |
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