Man burnt alive as burning beedi ignites stored scrap papers and fuels fire at Mandi Mohalla home

Mysore/Mysuru: A 60-year-old rag-picker, identified as Siddanaika, was charred to death after a fire broke out in his rented house on Sir Khazi Road, Mandi Mohalla, this morning.

Siddanaika, who earned his livelihood by collecting plastic and paper waste from garbage dumps and later selling it as scrap, had stored a large quantity of these items in his house.

At the time of the incident, his wife Puttamma, who works as a house-help, was away, while his granddaughter Lakshmi, a degree student at a Government College, was taking a bath.

According to preliminary reports, Siddanaika had been smoking a beedi while resting on a cot.

He is believed to have discarded the lit beedi without extinguishing it properly, which likely fell onto the plastic and paper scrap stored inside the house. This quickly ignited a blaze while he was still asleep.

At around 9 am, Lakshmi stepped out of the bathroom and was shocked to see flames and thick smoke filling the house.

She screamed for her grandfather to escape, but Siddanaika, disoriented and trapped by the dense smoke, was unable to make it out in time.

Within moments, the fire engulfed the entire house, burning Siddanaika alive and destroying the wooden attic, doors, windows and other household belongings.

Over 15 Fire and Emergency Services personnel from the Bannimantap Fire Station, led by Fire Officer Rajesh and Station Fire Officer Mahesh, rushed to the scene with a fire engine.

They managed to douse the flames and prevent the fire from spreading to nearby houses, but by then Siddanaika had already died in the blaze.

Mandi Inspector Diwakar and his team also arrived at the spot, conducted a mahazar and shifted the body to the MMC&RI mortuary for a post-mortem examination.

A case has been registered  and further investigations are on.