Fatal Brampton Fire Claims Lives Of Indian-Origin Couple And Daughter In Suspicious Incident

Last week in Canada's Ontario province, an Indian-origin couple and their teenage daughter tragically lost their lives in a "suspicious" fire that engulfed their home, according to authorities.

The Peel Police reported that a fire broke out at a residence in the Big Sky Way and Van Kirk Drive area of Brampton on March 7. After extinguishing the blaze, investigators discovered what appeared to be human remains within the heavily damaged house. However, at the time, the exact number of individuals deceased could not be confirmed.

Fatal Brampton Fire Claims Lives of Indian-Origin Couple

The charred remains, identified on Friday, were confirmed to be those of three family members: 51-year-old Rajiv Warikoo, his wife, 47-year-old Shilpa Kotha, and their 16-year-old daughter, Mahek Warikoo. It was stated by Peel police Constable Taryn Young on Friday that the fire had been deemed suspicious, as reported by the CTV news channel.

"At this time, we are investigating this with our homicide bureau, and we are deeming this as suspicious as the Ontario Fire Marshal has deemed that this fire was not accidental," Young was quoted as saying. "There's not much left to it," Young commented when asked about the possible cause of the fire.

"Looking into something like that as a fire marshal, I'm sure it's very tough when there is not much left to look at. But we are exhausting all avenues," she said. The family's deceased neighbour, Kenneth Yousaf, mentioned that the family had lived on the street for about 15 years, and he never noticed any problems with them. Yousaf recalled being alerted to the fire last week by a family member, who heard a big "bang."

"When we came out, the house was on fire. So sad. Within a few hours, everything was down to the ground," Yousaf was quoted as saying. In a press release, it was stated by police that the deaths of the three family members are continuing to be investigated, and anyone with information was urged to come forward.

"The circumstances surrounding the house fire remains the focus of an active investigation, and anyone with information or video footage (dashcam or otherwise) is urged to contact Homicide detectives," police said.