Mother Jailed for Pouring Kerosene over Herself and 7-Year-Old Son Then Setting Kitchen on Fire in Act of ‘Desperation’

A mother in Australia has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison after setting her kitchen on fire while covered in kerosene alongside her 7-year-old son — an act the court described as one of “desperation.”

On Tuesday, Oct. 14, 36-year-old Rita Khatri appeared before Victoria’s Supreme Court, where she learned her fate, according to Herald Sun and The West Australian.

Khatri was originally charged with attempted murder in June 2024, but prosecutors later dropped that charge after she pleaded guilty to recklessly engaging in conduct that placed her son’s life at risk, The West Australian reported.

According to Herald Sun, on June 26, 2024, Khatri purchased about two gallons of kerosene after picking up her son from school in Melbourne. That evening, after dinner, she told him they would “play a game.” She then undressed to her underwear and asked her son to do the same. Once both were undressed, Khatri poured kerosene on their bodies and lit a fire on her clothing and a mat in the kitchen.

As flames began to spread, Khatri urged her son to “go next to the fire.” Instead, the terrified boy escaped and called emergency services.

During the call, he could be heard pleading with his mother, crying, “Mummy, stop,” and “you’re hurting me.” At one point, he said, “Mommy, I don’t want to die,” before Khatri ended the call.

The frightened child ran from the home and begged a passerby for help while his mother tried to pull him back inside, asking, “What are you f—— doing, why are you doing this to me?”

When authorities arrived, Khatri reportedly told them there was “nothing left to live for,” Herald Sun said.

Justice James Gorton commended the child’s bravery, calling his actions “remarkably courageous.” He told the court, “The audio recordings reveal how desperately frightened and panicked, and to my mind confused, he was by your actions and what you were telling him to do.”

He added, “It is difficult to think of a more stressful event for a child of that age than to be repeatedly asked, or told, by his parent, for no apparent proper reason, to engage in conduct that carried with it … the risk of his painful death or at least serious injury.”

The boy was not burned but was treated in the hospital for “some skin damage from the kerosene,” The West Australian reported.

Khatri also pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice after she was recorded in a phone call from jail instructing her son’s caretaker to tell the boy to say the fire was an “accident.” “Explain him a little that if you want your mother back, then you should stop all this,” she said, according to Gorton.

During sentencing, Gorton said Khatri had been under “great personal stress” at the time of the incident. Her second marriage had broken down, and she faced deportation to India.

“Your second marriage had broken down, your expectation of being supported by your second husband and your prospects of obtaining a visa to remain in Australia had both disappeared,” he said. “You had no source of income and no family support in Australia.”

Khatri, a financial analyst, had moved to Melbourne after meeting her second husband online in August 2023. When their relationship ended, he withdrew her spousal visa.

Despite the difficult circumstances, the judge noted that Khatri had failed to “accept full responsibility” for her actions.

In court, she was seen crying. The West Australian reported that she described herself as a “victim of circumstance” and felt she had been “failed.”

Due to her visa status, Khatri is not eligible for parole and is expected to be deported after serving her sentence, Herald Sun reported.

Her son is now living with his father in Abu Dhabi.