Former AIADMK Minister’s daughter in-law dies of burn injuries

Former AIADMK Minister's daughter-in-law Poornima dies from burn injuries; police investigating the incident, post-mortem to be conducted.

Former AIADMK Higher Education Minister K.P. Anbalagan’s daughter in-law, M. Poornima (30), succumbed to burn injuries at the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore at 6.40 a.m. on January 25, 2024.

Police said that she got married to A. Sasimohan, younger son of the former Minister, in 2019. The couple stayed in Palacode village in Dharmapuri district. On January 18, when she was lighting a lamp in the pooja room, her silk saree got caught fire. Despite the fire being put off, she sustained severe burn injuries. “As per initial report, she sustained 83.5% of burn injury at the time of the incident, which happened at 4.45 p.m. on January 18,” police said.

As she cried in pain, the maid in the house rushed to rescue her. Immediately, the family members who were away were alerted. After first aid, Poornima was admitted to the Christian Medical College (CMC) Hospital in Vellore the same day. She was treated at the surgical ICU ward by a team of specialists led by Dr. Ashish Kumar Gupta of Department of Plastic Surgery (CMC).

The Judicial Magistrate from Dharmapuri also recorded her declaration at the hospital the following day. “So far, we have not got any official request to conduct the inquiry from the RDO [Revenue Divisional Officer] in Dharmapuri. If we get it, we may conduct it,” S. Kavitha, RDO (Vellore), told The Hindu.

Despite the best efforts of the hospital, she succumbed to injuries on January 25. A case has been filed by Palacode police in Dharmapuri. Mr. Anbalagan, his family members and victim’s parents are in the hospital since she got admitted.

As per norms, the CMC informed the North Vellore Police about the death as the case falls under medical-legal category to conduct the post-mortem, which will be done at the Government Medical College Hospital in Vellore later in the day. After the postmortem, the body will be handed over to her family, police said.