A young homemaker and her eight-month-old daughter died after they were set on fire and confined to the kitchen of their Howrah home, allegedly by her in-laws, on Wednesday morning.

Police started a murder case and arrested Rupa Chaudhury’s mother-in-law Asha, 51. Rupa’s husband Dipak, 32, is absconding.

Neighbours who rushed to the Balai Mistri Lane house on spotting smoke coming out of the kitchen window were let in by the couple’s five-year-old son Manish. They found the kitchen door tied with a piece of cloth and Rupa and Minakshi ablaze inside.

Rupa died in the house while Minakshi succumbed to her burns at SSKM Hospital.

According to neighbours, Rupa was frequently tortured by her husband and mother-in-law for dowry. “Even an hour before Rupa was murdered, I heard her crying and Dipak shouting at her,” said neighbour Alo Chakraborty.

Neighbours suspect that Dipak, who helps out at his father Brijmohan’s flour shop at Posta, fled after pouring kerosene on his wife and daughter and setting them on fire. The couple married six years ago.

The police seized an oxygen cylinder from the house.

Fatal mishaps: Three bikers without helmet died in two accidents on Wednesday. Partha Das, 27, and Laltu Das, 25, died after their motorcycle hit a divider on the Jadavpur EM Bypass connector around 3am. Around 5.10am, Harjit Singh Walia, 49, died after a milk van hit his motorcycle at Ultadanga. The driver fled.

Shot dead: Two unidentified bikers shot dead land broker Ranjit Thakur, 32, near his Sodepur house on Wednesday evening.