A six-year-old girl was charred to death in a fire that engulfed her home at Char Krishnapur near Ranitala on Thursday night.

Tamanna Khatun was a Class I student.

The blaze engulfed the house when the girl's father Abdur Rauf lit a fire in the cattle shed to protect the cows from mosquitoes and went to a mosque to offer prayers around 9pm.

The fire spread rapidly from the cattle shed to the adjacent rooms, including the one where Tamanna was asleep. Despite the efforts of the villagers to douse the flames, Tamanna couldn't be rescued.

Additional superintendent of police (Lalbag), Raspreet Singh, said: “A six-year-old girl lost her life in a fire at her home. We are inquiring how the fire started.”

The police have registered a case of unnatural death.

An inconsolable Rauf regretted his decision to light the fire in the cattle shed. “It’s all my fault. My daughter was burned to death because of my mistake. I lit a fire in the cattle shed to drive away mosquitoes. If I had stood there, there would have been no danger.”

The fire also resulted in the loss of two cattle heads.