The mother succumbed to the 70% burns she sustained (photo for representational purpose only)
Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
Given that it is not an easy task to find a life partner, but a man in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, set his mother on fire because she was incapable of finding him a girl to marry. Local police claimed that a taxi driver, identified as D Amarnath Prasad, from the coastal city of Chennai, tied his 60-year-old mother Sasikala to a chair before immolating her for not getting him a bride.


Neighbours told investigators that on 30 April, the 40-year-old man returned home in an inebriated condition and started fighting with his mother. He reportedly did not take rejection very well and was hurling abuses at his physically challenged mother. Later that night, neighbours in the village of Arumbakkam – where the incident happened – heard the woman screaming at 5.30am local time (12am GMT) and rushed to the house.
"Sasikala lived with her son Prasad and her younger sister, a spinster," an officer told the Times of India. "Neighbours said they heard Prasad shouting at his mother on Saturday night." Sasikala was allegedly found tied to a plastic chair with severe burns and was immediately rushed to the hospital.
A source at the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital – where she was admitted – reported that the woman had sustained 70% burns and succumbed to her injuries on 1 May.
Prior to her death, she gave her statement to the police and implicated her son Prasad, who was subsequently arrested.