TAPLEJUNG: A dispute between a man and his wife prompted the former to burn their house to ashes at Sikaicha of Sirijangha Rural Municipality-3 in Taplejung district on Wednesday night, locals said.

Dil Bahadur Sawaden torched the house at around 9 pm following a dispute with his wife, said local Keshar Baraili.

Property worth around Rs 200,000 was destroyed in the fire according to the estimate by the locals, added Baraili.

Efforts of locals to douse the fire had gone in vain. They were able to extinguish the fire only after two hours; by then the house had completely burnt.

The police said they were informed of the incident only this morning and a team has been dispatched to investigate into the incident.

Meanwhile, the fire victims are taking shelter in a neighbour’s house.