Hyderabad man who burnt five women says was 'extremely angry' wife cheated

HYDERABAD: A man who burnt five women, including his wife and mother-in-law, to death has confessed to the crime, saying he was "extremely angry" that his wife had allegedly cheated on him, police confirmed on Thursday.

The women died in a fire that had erupted late night, on March 8, inside a flat in Hyderabad's S.I.T.E area.

Initial suspicions that the blaze was not accidental but pre-planned were confirmed on Thursday when the suspect arrived to collect his children but authorities tracked him down and detained him, a police official said. He confessed to his crime during the questioning, the officer added.

Police further added that the suspect was the husband of one of the women who were killed. The remaining four were his wife's mother and sisters.

The detainee told police that his wife had left him for another man, which made him "extremely angry". To exact revenge, he went to his in-laws' house and locked the room — where his wife, mother-in-law, and sisters-in-law were sleeping — from outside before dousing it in petrol and setting it on fire.

A 50-year-old widow and four other women were killed in the March 9 fire.