He was young, and unemployed. He had four daughters and one son, whom he had really wanted. But it seems he could no longer bear to see them suffering from such poverty. He thus decided to put an end to their lives. This is what Janagaden Veerasawmy first confessed to the Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT) to justify his action. But two days later, when he appeared before the judge, he went back on his confessions saying he was beaten by the police and forced to make them.

Last Thursday night, Janageden and Soushila’s five children were sleeping alone in the single room they inhabited in Circonstance, St Pierre, when it caught fire. If Denila (8), Darshini (5) and Seewashini (3) were rescued – though they are badly burnt and in hospital – Nandini (4) and Jayan (14 months) could not be saved from the flames.

As there were some doubts about the cause of the fire the MCIT took Janagaden for questioning on Saturday and he admitted that he set fire to the room after putting his five children to bed. He has been provisionally charged with “arson causing death”. The police stated they suspect that he could have been under the influence of alcohol.

<B>Smell of petrol</B>

On the day of the funeral, Janagaden gave his first version: “It was about 8.30 pm when I put my children to bed after giving them their dinner. Before I left home to fetch my wife from work, I lit a small lamp because we have no electricity and closed the door. Then, I went to my cousin’s to get a cigarette and we started chatting. Suddenly I heard my sister yelling, ‘Fire! Fire!’” He asserted that when he arrived in the corridor leading to the room where the children were sleeping, he saw his three girls with his sister. He added that he tried to save the two others from the flames but he could not get into the room.

However, investigators started getting suspicious, as there was still a strong smell of petrol after the fire fighters had put the fire out. This led the police not to put the “foul play” theory aside. The Principal Police Medical Officer, Dr Sudesh Kumar Gungadin, revealed that both bodies bore traces of petrol The autopsy revealed that the four year-old girl died following extensive burns while the baby died of suffocation because of the thick smoke.

Denila, the 8 year-old girl who was the only who did not suffer severe wounds told the police that their father had been out that Thursday evening. When he came back, and as his children were asking him where their mother was, he said he was going to fetch her. Soon afterwards, when their father had left the house, the fire broke out.

The MCIT then felt something was wrong and went to find Janagaden at his house. The mother of the five children, Soushila, was also taken to the police station but she was allowed to go home as the police were satisfied with her explanations.

The couple and their five children were living in a small room in a house with other relatives. They had set up a small kitchen in a corner – a table with a primus and some kitchen utensils. Some relatives explain: “They kept some petrol in their room to light the primus. They had been without electricity for quite a long time since they could not afford it anymore.”

None of the children were going to school. Both parents had been unemployed for quite a long time but Soushila had recently found a job in a snack bar near her house. As for Jaganaden, he did not have a regular job and used to leave his children at his father’s place if he had some specific chore to do. But a relative confided that he had not been working for several months “because he was a bit lazy and liked drinking”.

As Jaganaden showed traces of wounds on his back to the magistrate, the latter asked for a judicial enquiry to try and shed some light on the different versions.