Paradip, April 11: Provoked over being denied of the dowry sum, a man here set his in-laws’ house on fire causing property loss worth over Rs 5 lakh. After assaulting his father-in-law, the man set his in-laws’ house ablaze in the midnight of Sunday.

The arson by accused Lalit Routray from Kaladhari village under Raghunathpur police station jurisdiction has reduced his in-laws’ house into ashes. Six mud-walled thatched houses were charred while property worth over Rs 2 lakh was gutted.

“It was an unusual offence. Either the accused had perpetrated the crime in a sudden fit of rage or he has committed it out of mental imbalance.” said Padarabinda Tripathy, inspector, Raghunathpur police station.

Twenty-nine-year-old Lalit was allegedly inflicting physical and mental harassment on his spouse Nirmala. He had pressed forth the demand for Rs 50,000 as dowry, by which he wanted to buy a motorcycle. But his in-laws did not accede to his ‘unreasonable’ demands, which resulted in such a tragic incident,” said the inspector.

“Lalit is absconding. A case has been registered against him on the basis of a complaint lodged by his father-in-law Bharat Nayak,” he said.

“On Sunday night, he first beat up the male members of his in-laws’ house. Then all of a sudden, he climbed atop the thatched roof of the house and sprinkled kerosene oil on the straws. Later, surprising everybody, he lit a matchbox and threw that on the thatched roof to set the house on fire. After executing the crime, he jumped down from the roof and fled from the spot,” Tripathy added.

Lalit’s in-laws’ family suffered extensive damage because of the incident. Property that has been damaged by the fire is being assessed to the tune of over Rs 5 lakh. Lalit is believed to be in a state of mental instability, police said.

“In mental health’s terminology, such acts are referred as pyromania. It’s an acute psychiatric disorder. Unless immediate psychiatric attention is paid to the man, his mental condition may deteriorate further,” said Bibhu Kalyan Sahu, a psychiatrist in Cuttack-based Mental Health Institute.