Chicago Murder Tied to Caste and Marriage

By JOHN HOLUSHA
Published: January 2, 2008

A Chicago-area man set a fire that killed his pregnant daughter, grandson and son-in-law, because he was unhappy with his daughter’s marriage, prosecutors said.

Subhash Chander, 57, of Oak Forest was charged with three counts of first degree murder and was ordered held without bail in connection with the Saturday blaze that sent dozens of people running out into the cold.

Prosecutors said the India-born man started the fire, using gasoline, because he had not approved his daughter’s marriage and because her husband was of a lower caste than him and his daughter, according to The Associated Press.

“His son-in-law was beneath him in his opinion,” said Robert Milan, an assistant state’s attorney in Cook County.

Mr. Milan identified the victims as Monika Rani, 22, who was five months pregnant, her husband Rajesh Kumar, 36, and their 3-year-old son Vansh. The medical examiner’s office classified the deaths as homicides and said the cause was carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke and soot inhalation.

Chander told police that the gasoline spilled during a dispute with his son-in-law. But prosecutors said the victims may have been asleep when the fire started. All the other residents of the wooden apartment complex were able to escape the blaze, which took three hours to extinguish.

Family members told local news media that they had immigrated from northern India.