Child set on fire,dies

A four-year-old boy was charred to death and his uncle suffered severe burns after family rivals poured kerosene on them and set them on fire while they were asleep in Singahi area of Lakhimpur Kheri district on Saturday morning. Kheri SP Mahesh Mishra said Raj Kumar of Surat Nagar locality,accompanied by aides,sprinkled kerosene on the mosquito-net around the cot of Madhusudan Gupta (30) and his nephew Babu (4) while they were fast asleep around 2.30 am. The cot was lying close to the doors of the house. Raj Kumar then allegedly set the cot afire and escaped. The flames flared up and by the time the neighbours doused the fire,Gupta and Babu had sustained serious burns. They were rushed to the hospital but Babu died on way while Gupta is battling for life. The SP said Babu’s father Manomohan was killed by Raj Kumar’s brother Rajendra in January 2008 following a property dispute. Rajendra was jailed in the case.