RAWALPINDI, Nov 5: A widow was burnt alive after being trapped in fire that erupted in her house.

The incident occurred while she was cooking in her house on Monday, police said.

Perveen Akhtar, 40, had been living in Faisal Town with her four daughters since her husband Sabir Hussain died four years ago.

According to preliminary police investigation, Perveen was alone in her home while her daughters had gone to school.

She got trapped in the fire that erupted apparently due to gas leakage.

Ghulam Safdar, the elder brother of the victim when contacted, said he rushed to his sister’s house on receiving a call from his niece, Ayesha, informing him about the incident.

Ayesha, a 9th grade student, said she was in school, located close to her house, when she saw smoke rising from her house and heard her mother’s cries for help.

She said she and her sisters rushed home and found their mother lying on the floor of the kitchen, severely burnt.

The victim was shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Ghulam Safdar, the victim’s brother who is a schoolteacher in Jand (Attock district) told Dawn that it was an accidental death caused due to the fire that erupted in the kitchen while cooking.

He said his sister had never complained to him as she was leading a happy life with her children.