Charred body of elderly woman found in south Kolkata flat – Times of India

The victim’s Garfa house

KOLKATA: The charred body of a 74-year-old woman was found in her flat at Eastern Park in Garfa on Thursday evening. Cops investigating the case said it appeared to be an accident that probably happened as the woman dozed off, keeping her electric heating pad switched on. Most probably, she died of carbon monoxide poisoning, said the investigators.
The victim, Tapati Sarkar, used to live alone on the second-floor flat.
Forensic experts told TOI that primarily it seemed that the pad got overheated and the bed on which she was sleeping caught fire. As the windows were shut, carbon monoxide was formed and she suffocated to death. Two years ago, two senior citizens — who had problems walking — lost their lives inside a Beliaghata flat under similar circumstances. “It looks like the victim had initially asphyxiated,” said the expert.
“We are waiting for a postmortem report and the forensic inference,” said DC (SSD) Rashid Munir Khan.
“The main door was partly open when our men reached the spot. We are trying to find out if it was ususally kept open or neighbours forcefully opened it in order to save the woman,” said an investigating officer.
According to Piyas Mondal, a neighbour residing on the opposite flat, said he first noticed some smoke from the residence of the septuagenarian around 6.50pm. By that time, neighbours residing in the same flat as Sarkar, raised an alarm.
Neighbours said she is survived by a daughter, who now resides in Cornfield Road in the Sealdah area after her marriage.