Mother and five children burnt alive

A mother and her five children were burnt to death Sunday when their house was set ablaze in eastern India after they refused to withdraw a case over the theft of a water buffalo, police said.
The incident took place early Sunday in Rampur-Shyamchand village in Bihar state, 40 kilometres (25 miles) south-east of the capital Patna, when armed men set the thatched house ablaze, the Press Trust of India reported, quoting police Superintendent Preeta Verma.
Vijendra Mahto, the father of the deceased family and now the only surviving member, had lodged a case with police against a rival family over the theft of the buffalo.