Pregnant Woman, Husband And Infant Son Died In Saturday Blaze In Oak Forest

CBS 

MARKHAM, IL. (CBS) ― Prosecutors say a 57-year-old man set a fire that killed his daughter, her husband and their 3-year-old son because the son-in-law came from a "lower caste system" and had not asked him for the daughter's hand in marriage.

Subhash Chander was ordered held without bond Tuesday in a hearing before Judge Martin McDonough at the Markham Courthouse. He is accused of burning his pregnant daughter Monika Rani, 22; her husband Rajesh Kumar, 30; their son Vansh, and their unborn child.

Chander was charged Monday night with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of intentional homicide of an unborn child in the Oak Forest blaze. The fire that gutted a 36-unit building was set Saturday night at the Le Claire Station Apartments in Oak Forest.

Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Robert Milan said considering how many people the fire put in danger, it could have been one of the largest homicides in American history.
 

But Chander's sister, Kamla Devi, told WBBM-AM that her brother is innocent. She said relatives approved of the marriage and that the caste system was not a consideration for her family in India nor is it a consideration now in the United States.

"There was no family problem. There was nothing going on. Absolutely nothing," Devi said.

Devi told the radio station that the family is from Chandigarh in northern India.

Milan said Chander intentionally set the Saturday night fire. The fire also put the lives of dozens of others in harm's way and destroyed 36 units in one building.

Chander confessed to setting the fire, Milan said. The defendant told authorities he purchased some gasoline for his daughter but got into a shoving match with his son-in-law, during which the gasoline spilled and he set a lighter to it, Milan said.

But prosecutors do not believe the story.

"This is his version of what happened. The evidence shows that based on what was said in court today that it's more likely that there was no shoving match; that while they were asleep, this was poured outside the doorway and this fire was ignited," Milan said. "He did not like his son-in-law. His son-in-law married his daughter without his permission, and on top of that, in his country, his son-in-law grew up in a caste lower than he and his daughter, so the son-in-law was not acceptable to the defendant. That was the motive."

Milan said Chander purchased the gasoline two hours before the fire.

The clerk at the Citgo gas station in Oak Forest said he knew something wasn't right Saturday night when a customer threw $5 at him to pay for a gallon of gas.

"That was the weird thing, he walked off without his change," said gas station attendant Terrill Starks.

A surveillance camera caught 56-year-old Subash Chander standing in the store and dispensing a gallon of gas at pump number four, just before the fire.

"He poured the gas outside their apartment, number 209, he did not call 911. He did not notify his own daughter," Milan said.

Witnesses saw two men pouring accelerant in the hallway outside the Aroras' apartment moments before flames engulfed the building. Lab tests completed Monday by Illinois State Police showed that the accelerant was gasoline and that it matched gasoline found on the clothes of the two suspects. 

Oak Forest police say they were able to make the arrest quickly because witnesses saw the suspect standing in the parking lot, while the building burned.

Now the Citgo clerk wishes he could have prevented the tragedy.

"Whatever it was, don't take everyone down with it," Starks said. "I had friends over there, who live in that building.

Earlier Monday, Oak Forest Police Chief Dennis Olszewski had declined to say whether the men were related to the victims. Police said the investigation was hampered because the suspects didn't speak English well.

Rani's uncle lived in the same building as the young family and her father lived in a building 50 yards away -- two doors down from a second apartment Rani and Arora shared until August, friends said.

Arora, who worked at gas stations in Chicago Heights and Steger for five years, was "a good person," Raj Bains, who owns gas stations in the area, said. When customers heard news of the cashier's death, many were moved to tears, Bains said.

The fire left numerous people displaced, some of whom lost identification and passports. Neighbors have donated clothes, blankets and other supplies to those left homeless by the blaze. Displaced residents moved into neighboring apartments, but after surviving the horror of the fire, many plan to relocate and start anew.

Oak Forest police say the second man they were holding, had nothing to do with the fire. He was released without charges.