Poverty-stricken mother kills children, self

Ranchi, Feb 21 (UNI) Unable to bear the sufferings of extreme poverty triggered by huge debt her husband owed, a woman set herself and her three minor children afire in Jharkhand's Deoghar district early today.

The four of the family were completely charred, Superintendent of Police Manoj Kaushik told UNI from Deoghar over phone.

Anita (32) and her family had been hit by intense poverty after her husband Jaiprakash Burnwal, a small trader, had been missing for the past three months. He owed money amounting to Rs three lakh to many people in the area, the SP said.

The bodies of the deceased--the mother and her children-- Juhi (12), Ruchi (10) and Golu (7)-- were recovered from their house at the Williams town locality in the district, he said.

UNI