Family dispute at heart of Oak Forest apartment fire, prosecutors say
No bail for man held in deaths of daughter, son-in-law and grandson
By Gerry Smith, Lolly Bowean and Matthew Walberg | Tribune staff reporters
11:13 AM CST, January 1, 2008
An Oak Forest man set a fire that killed his pregnant daughter, son-in-law and young grandson Saturday because he was upset over his daughter's marriage, prosecutors said this morning.
Subhash Chander, 57, appeared in the Markham branch of Cook County Circuit Court on three counts of first-degree murder, one count of homicide of an unborn child and one count of aggravated arson. Judge Martin E. McDonough ordered him held without bail.
Killed in the blaze were Monika Rani, 22, Rajesh Kumar, 30, and their son, Vansh, 3. Rani was about five months pregnant, authorities said.
First Assistant State's Atty. Robert Milan said Chander told police that he was upset with his daughter and son-in-law because they married without his consent, and he considered Kumar to be from a lower caste than his daughter.
Milan said Chander told police that on the night of the fire, he went to a gas station to buy gas for his son, but decided to give it to his daughter instead. After arriving at her door, he said, Kumar told him that it was late and asked him to leave. He told police that Kumar started to push him and some of the gas from the container in his hand spilled onto the carpet just inside the door. Chander told police that he became "upset and angry" and pulled a lighter from his pocket and set the carpet on fire.
After the fire was set, Chander told police, he went back to his apartment across the street and placed the remaining gasoline in a trash bin. He told police that he did not call police or the fire department to report the fire, nor did he call his daughter to make sure she and her family were safe, Milan said.
Milan said a gas station attendant identified Chander in a lineup, and that officers recovered the plastic container that held the gas, a pharmaceutical container that had a prescription label with Chander's name on it.
The three victims died of carbon-monoxide poisoning and smoke and soot inhalation, and their deaths were ruled homicides Monday by the Cook County medical examiner's office.
"The police are still doing investigative work," said Oak Forest Fire Chief Jim Berger, who was at the scene Monday. "We know the fire was an arson. What was used to start the fire, we can't say at this time."
The blaze was started with a flammable material on the second floor of the two-story apartment building Saturday night at 15859 Le Claire Ave. and flames quickly spread, Berger said.
When firefighters arrived at the modest apartment complex, residents were jumping from the balconies, and flames were consuming the 36-unit building, Berger said. Although residents were frantically trying to escape the blaze, none of the survivors was injured, he said.
According to a report given by police to the medical examiner's office, one victim was found in the bedroom of Unit 209, and the child was found in a hallway of the apartment about 10 feet away.
The third victim was found in a separate apartment, Unit 211, also in a bedroom, the report stated. Oak Forest police did not comment on the investigation Monday.
Investigators found evidence that an accelerant was set ablaze late Saturday near Unit 209, which later collapsed to the ground floor, Berger said. Police told the medical examiner's office that a plastic container holding an accelerant was recovered from a nearby garbage bin.
On Monday morning, former residents of the gutted building lined up in the cold to get access to their apartments and salvage what they could.
But many of the apartments were destroyed by the fire or the water used to fight the blaze. Because the building is considered unsafe, residents were escorted to their apartment and could only stand outside while firefighters gathered what they could for them.
"All I have left is this jacket and what I'm wearing," a distraught Karamjit Singh said after firefighters combed through his apartment and came out empty-handed. "I just don't believe this happened."
"We have to start over and find a new place," said Ruchi Patel, as she wrapped herself in a blanket.
The Le Claire Avenue apartment complex had become home to newly arrived, working-class immigrants, particularly from India, former residents said. Although it's not necessarily close-knit, the community was friendly and the building owned and managed by an Indian-American who helped make the transition to the Midwest pleasant for newcomers.
"It was a good place for us," said Patel, 18, who had moved to the complex two months ago. Many of the residents were students, elderly immigrants or newly married couples who stayed there long enough to buy their own homes, she said.
On Monday afternoon, Simranjit Singh, who used to live in the building, stood outside the ruins with his wife and two children. When he first arrived in the Chicago area, his family stayed in the complex and made friends there, he said. They were sad to see the building destroyed and to know lives were lost.
"We feel so sorry," he said. "Yet there is not much we can do."
Family dispute at heart of Oak Forest apartment fire, prosecutors say -- chicagotribune.com
hindu caste system is just as bad as racism. How can any father kill his own blood?
This also reminds me of the story about the girl up in Canada who was choked by her own father. did they ever truly find the reason why he did that? i'm not so ready to believe whatever just her friends had to say.
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Man kills daughter, son-in-law, and grandson...
