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Man burns granny in escape bid
08/11/2007 21:32 - (SA)
Durban - An 80-year-old woman was burnt to death in her home near Newcastle on Thursday during her grandson's bid to avoid being arrested, police said.
Captain Shooz Magudulela said the 24-year-old man was wanted on a charge of malicious damage to property.
When police went to arrest him at his grandmother's house in Osizweni, near Newcastle, a struggle ensued.
The two arresting officers called for back-up and the police's dog unit arrived on the scene, at which time the man fled into the house.
Magudulela said the man barricaded himself inside the house and police officers, unable to open the doors, climbed onto the roof and tried to remove the corrugated iron roofing.
However, the man then started a fire in a bid to scare the police officers off the roof, but the fire was soon out of control.
The man fled the house and was promptly arrested. Unbeknown to police officers, the man's sick grandmother was still in the house.
"She was sick in bed. She was burnt alive," said Magudulela.
The man will face charges of arson and murder. He will also face charges of assault relating to his struggle with the police officers as well as the original malicious damage to property charge.
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