Mother Jailed for Pouring Kerosene over Herself and 7-Year-Old Son Then Setting Kitchen on Fire in Act of 'Desperation' By Gabrielle Rockson

A mother was sentenced to four years and eight months jail time after dousing herself and her 7-year-old son in kerosene before lighting her kitchen on fire in what the courts have ruled was an act of “desperation.”

On Tuesday, Oct. 14, Rita Khatri, 36, appeared in Victoria’s Supreme Court where she was given her sentence, according to Herald Sun and The West Australian.

Khatri had previously been charged with attempted murder in June 2024, The West Australian reported, noting that the charge was dropped after she pleaded guilty to recklessly engaging in conduct that put the life of her son at risk.

On June 26, 2024, Khatri bought approximately two gallons of kerosene after picking her son up from school in Melbourne, Australia, Herald Sun reported.

After having dinner, she then suggested they “play a game,” before undressing to her underwear and asking her son to do the same. Once they were undressed, the mother of one poured the kerosene on their bodies before lighting a fire on her clothes and a floor mat in the kitchen.

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Khatri urged her son to “go next to the fire;” however, he escaped the kitchen and called emergency services. 

The child was reportedly heard pleading while on the phone with emergency responders. Per the outlets, he was recorded saying things such as, “Mummy, stop,” “don’t do this” and “you’re hurting me.”

“Mommy, I don’t want to die,” he cried at one point before Khatri ended the call.

The outlets reported that he escaped the home and begged a passerby to alert the police as his mother tried to pull him back inside while asking, “What are you f—— doing, why are you doing this to me?”

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She reportedly told emergency responders that there was “nothing left to live for” when they arrived on the scene, per Herald Sun. 

Justice James Gorton told the court that the young boy showed “remarkable courage” while alerting the police.

“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 said, per Herald Sun.

Continuing, he said, “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, he must have appreciated, the risk of his painful death or at least serious injury.”

He survived the incident without sustaining any burns, though he did receive treatment at the hospital due to “some skin damage from the kerosene,” The West Australian reported.

Khatri also pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice, per the outlet, noting that she had been recorded on a phone call while in jail, telling her son’s caretaker that he should describe the incident as an “accident.”

“Explain him a little that if you want your mother back, then you should stop all this,” she said, according to Gorton.

While handing down the sentence, Gorton told the court that the mother of one was in “great personal stress” when committing the act.

It happened as her second marriage was failing, and Khatri faced the risk of being deported to her home country, 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, you had no source of income and you had no family support in Australia,” Gorton told the financial analyst, who shares her son with her first husband, per Herald Sun.

Khatri moved to Melbourne after meeting her second husband online in August 2023, per The West Australian. After their relationship ended, he withdrew her spousal support visa.

Despite her challenging circumstances, Gorton added that Khatri had failed to “accept full responsibility” for her actions.

“Notwithstanding the stressful situation in which you found yourself at the time, your decision to act as you did — what you hoped to achieve — remains somewhat unexplained,” he continued.

In the court hearing, Khatri was visibly crying. The West Australian reported that she sees herself as a “victim of circumstance” and felt that she had been “failed.”

Due to her visa, she will not be eligible for parole. The court also heard she’s likely to be deported once she completes her jail sentence, according to Herald Sun.

Her son now reportedly lives with his father in Abu Dhabi.

PEOPLE has contacted the Victoria Police and the Victoria Supreme Court for comment on the case.