Hyderabad boy set ablaze by father over studies succumbs

A 12-year-old boy set ablaze by his father for not taking his studies seriously and not attending online classes succumbed to his injuries at a government hospital on Thursday, police said.

R Charan, who had sustained 60 per cent burns, breathed his last at the Gandhi Hospital.

Police said Charan's labourer father R Balu had set him afire on Sunday night at their shanty in a private school campus in Kukatpally Housing Board Colony under Cyberabad police commissionerate. Balu's wife worked as an attendant at the school.

A police officer said that an inebriated Balu first beat up the Class 6 student over his educational activities even as the boy's mother tried in vain to save him. An infuriated Balu then poured turpentine oil on Charan and set him ablaze.

The boy ran out of the house, where area residents doused the flames and rushed him to a hospital. Police later arrested Balu, Originally hailing from Nagarkurnool.

Police said that the boy was rescued in 2019 under 'Operation Smile' while he was working at a bike-repair shop, following which police had counselled his parents.