Aug 16, 2007 7:22 pm US/Central
Children Killed By Mom In Fire Laid To Rest
Police: Mother Bought Toys For Kids, Then Set Herself And Kids On Fire
The Associated Press and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) ―
Services were held on Thursday for a mother and two children killed in a double murder and suicide when she set fire to their Naperville home.
As CBS 2's West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports, the family and loved ones of Vardaan and Ananya Tiwari carried the two children to their final resting place in the Oakridge Glen Oaks Cemetery in Hillside.
The 18-month-old girl and her four-year-old brother died Saturday when investigators say their mother, Nimisha, intentionally set herself and children on fire in the master bedroom of the family's Naperville home.
While the children's father was too distraught to talk to CBS 2, Nimisha's brother did want to pay tribute to his sister.
"I wanted to say my sister was the greatest sister in the world," said Nishant Awasthi.
Nimisha was cremated as part of a service held inside a chapel where flower petals still covered the floor. A steady stream of mourners arrived for the 90-minute service.
Nimisha's brother hopes in death, Nimisha may find the peace that eluded her in life. He said, "She won't have to suffer anymore. "
One of those who showed up to express sympathy at Thursday's service was a painter who had done work for the family inside the Nutmeg Lane home where the fatal fire was set.
"It's unbelievable," said painter John Palacio. "That's why I wanted to be here to say goodbye to them."
The children were considered too young to be cremated, so their final goodbyes were graveside. The father and uncle of Vardaan laid his casket on the ground so he could be lowered into the earth alongside his sister. Tears flowed freely as mourners sprinkled the caskets with flowers and knelt in prayer.
Awasthi had a wish for his sister, Nimisha. "May god give my sister and kids peace," he said.
The children's father knelt and appeared to be talking to his two children united in life, and on Thursday, in the "Heavenly Angels" section of the cemetery, united too in death.
Nimisha's remains are to be spread over the Ganges River in India.
Investigators say Nimisha Tiwari -- who police said was in a "troubled marriage" -- set herself on fire, and rescuers found all three ablaze on a bed in the master bedroom.
Surveillance video shows Tiwari driving her children, Vardaan, 4, and Ananya, 18 months, to a nearby gas station where she purchased gasoline, said Naperville Police Chief David Dial.
Police say she then went to a toy store where she bought two toys, Dora the Explorer and Thomas the Tank Engine. The toys were found at the home.
Monday, evidence technicians photographed the front door that firefighters found locked with a deadbolt Saturday afternoon. They broke it down to discover three burning bodies in a second floor bedroom. Police say all three died from burns suffered in the blaze.
Police say Tiwari's husband had nothing to do with the crime. Police say they do not know of a motive for the double murder and suicide, but say the couple had marital problems. The couple married in India in 1999 and moved to the United States shortly afterward. Police say both the husband and wife had contacted them back in May 2007about a domestic dispute, but that had since been resolved.
In May of this year, both Anand and Nimisha Tiwari filed separate police reports accusing one another of abusive behavior.
Anand Tiwari complained of his wife's troubled behavior, which he said was a symptom of multiple sclerosis.
Tiwari filed a lengthy order of protection against her husband in May, claiming that he threatened to take the kids away, repeatedly told her son "Mom is crazy;" threatened to throw her out of the house; drained their joint bank account; took away her credit cards, phone and e-mail; and told her to commit suicide. The order was dropped a week later.
"They seemed to be nice and happy," neighbor Fatima Hyder, 30, said days after the fire. "But you never know what goes on inside."
Nimisha Tiwari's father, an executive with Nuclear Power Corp. of India, reportedly left India on Tuesday to attend the services. P. Awasthi disputed his son-in-law's testimony in an article published by The Telegraph in Calcutta, India, and said he will challenge the case once he arrives in the United States.
(CBS 2, the Naperville Sun and the Aurora Beacon-News are news partners covering stories in the western suburbs of Chicago.)
