The house gutted in fire. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Munshipara (Alipurduar), March 3: A marriage reception had to be called off after a fire destroyed the house of the groom and injured his siblings at Munshipara under Alipurduar block-1 of Alipurduar subdivision last night.

Mustafa Hossain was away from home at Deogaon in Falakata to marry Anwara Begam. After the wedding, the couple were taking dinner when the news came that Hossain’s house was gutted and Asraful Hossain and Rasna Khatun — the brother and sister of the groom — who had opted to stay back, suffered serious injuries.

Both were admitted to Cooch Behar MJN Hospital. The pandal and chairs arranged for the wedding reception and an amount of Rs 52000 — earmarked for the function — have also perished in the blaze. The entire family, including the new bride, is staying under tarpaulin provided by the gram panchayat. After the incident, the family has sent messages to the friends and relatives informing them that the programme was cancelled.

Around 10.30pm, Rasna was pouring kerosene to light a lamp. Suddenly, the lamp fell on a wooden table, setting fire to the house. Seeing his sister being burnt, Asraful tried vainly to douse the flames using a blanket, and he, too, suffered injuries. As the fire started spreading, both came outside and the six-room house burnt down completely. While Rasna is in critical condition with burns from her neck to legs, the brother has injuries on hands and legs.

Abdul Rahman, father of the injured, rued that as a farmer it would not be easy for him to reconstruct the house and meet the medical expenses of the children. He added that message was sent to friends and relatives about the cancellation of today’s reception. He added that without compensation, running the family would be tough. “Now I have to make a temporary shelter for the family and the tarpaulins provided are inadequate.”

After the incident, the neighbours are worried a lot. They have come forward to extend all sorts of help to the family. Goutam Sarki, the former pradhan of the area, said they hadn’t had enough time to inform the fire brigade and they, too, had taken a lot of time to arrive from Alipurduar. “We will definitely help them and expect assistance from the panchayat also.”