Paravur (Kollam): A man set his bedridden father ablaze following a financial dispute here on Wednesday.
P Sreenivasan (85), of Paravur Kottapuram, died of severe burn injuries after his son S Anilkumar (52), an auto driver, set him on fire.
Police, who arrested Anilkumar, said his mother Vasumathi (72), was a witness to the crime.
The incident happened around 11 am, police said. Anilkumar reached his ancestral home and started quarrelling with his father Srinivasan, who had been bedridden for years due to age-related ailments and kidney disease, demanding funds for his son's study abroad and Rs 1 lakh for a newly bought autorickshaw. Anilkumar got angry and poured the petrol he had brought in a plastic bottle on Srinivasan and set him on fire.
At the time of the incident, Anilkumar's mother and the home nurse, who was taking care of Srinivasan, were in the house.
Bedridden, Srinivasan could not move to safety. Vasumathi was in such shock that she could not even scream after seeing her husband being burnt to death by her son. When the home nurse, who was in the kitchen, saw it and screamed, Anilkumar ran out of the house, police said.
Alerted by his neighbours, police reached the spot and apprehended Anilkumar.
