Retarded man kills three believing in caste system over life

A 57-year-old man has been charged with killing his pregnant daughter, her husband and their 3-year-old son in a weekend arson fire at a south suburban apartment complex, a law enforcement source told the Sun-Times.

Subhash 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 victims were identified as Monika Rani, 22 — who was said to be five months pregnant — Rajesh Arora, 30, and their son Vansh, 3, who have been missing since the blaze Saturday night at the Le Claire Station Apartments.

Their deaths were ruled homicides Monday by the Cook County medical examiner.

Jumped from balconies
Chander is scheduled to appear at a bond hearing today at the Cook County Courthouse in Markham, the law enforcement source said. It was unclear whether a second man questioned in the fire would be charged.

The fire that gutted a 36-unit building at the complex had some residents jumping from second-floor balconies to escape the flames and left dozens of people homeless.

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.

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.

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