A 47-year-old woman, Ranu Roy of Behala in Kolkata, was charred to death on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday after her burning cigarette triggered a fire in her bedroom.
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Roy, who used to live on the third floor of her building in the Aryasamiti area of Behala, started smoking after her husband passed away 17 years ago. Though she used to live alone on the third floor, her sons and their family reside in the same building. Despite objections from her family members, the widow used to smoke every night in her room.
But on Friday morning at around 5 am, the neighbours noticed smoke bellowing out from the third-floor room. After breaking into her room they noticed that the bed had burnt down and Roy's charred body was lying on it.
As the widow, who was an employee of the Kolkata Corporation was still alive, she was rushed to the hospital but she succumbed to the burns. Roy had suffered 99 percent burns. It is being suspected that Roy must have fallen asleep without putting-out her cigarette which led to the fire.
Her grieving family was only thankful that her granddaughter had a narrow escape that night as it was a regular routine for the child to sleep in Roy's room. However, the child was not with Roy that night.
