Elderly woman charred to death as house catches fire

A 66-year-old woman was charred to death as her thatched house in Yeleswaram mandal in East Godavari district caught fire, police said today.
The incident took place late last night at Dibbalavari Palem on the outskirts of Yeleswaram, in which the woman identified as P Seetharthanam died, police said.
"The woman, who lived alone, was asleep when her house caught fire. When her neighbours noticed the flames, they rushed to the spot, but by that time the woman had died," Yeleswaram Sub Inspector M Applala Naidu said.
Although the police are yet to ascertain the cause of the fire, they said they are probing all angles.

"What triggered the fire is not yet known. But we are probing all angles-- whether it was a sabotage or something else," he added.
According to police, the elderly woman has two sons, but was living separately.
After the post-mortem, her body was handed over to her relatives, he added.