Father of Naperville mom disputes police's explanation of fatal fire

Two Naperville children will be laid to rest Thursday during services that also will be for their mother, who police said intentionally ignited the fire that killed them.

The mother's father, though, disputes that she is capable of killing her children. He was flying late Tuesday to the United States from his home in India.

In a 150-seat Hillside sanctuary, mourners dressed in white are expected Thursday to give Nimisha Tiwari and her two young children a traditional Hindu service.

Afterward, the 32-year-old stay-at-home mother will be cremated. Mourners then will walk through Oakridge Cemetery with the children's father, Anand, in a procession to take the bodies of the slain children to their final resting place.

Four-year-old Vardaan and his 18-month-old sister, Ananya, will be buried side-by-side in the cemetery's Heavenly Angels section, near hundreds of other children.

The Tiwari children died Saturday along with their mother in a fire in their home on 1900 block of Nutmeg Lane in Naperville.

Police said Nimisha Tiwari set the fire after pouring gasoline in the master bedroom and nearby hallway. She and the children were found on a bed in the master bedroom.

Police have surveillance footage of the woman with the children in the family van buying a can of gasoline two hours before the fatal fire. They had bought toys at a Downers Grove store earlier in the day.

The couple had marital problems, court records revealed. Nimisha Tiwari also was struggling with multiple sclerosis.

Her father, P. Awasthi, a top executive with Nuclear Power Corporation, told a Calcutta, India-based newspaper that he will push for a further police investigation once he reaches Naperville.

"Nimisha loved her children a lot," Awasthi told The Telegraph. "Buying a gasoline can was normal for her because the lawn mower in her house works on petrol.

"It is possible that she bought it for that. Maybe there is something more to the incident than what the police are claiming."

Though police detectives did not find a suicide note in the fire-ravaged bedroom, or elsewhere, they are doing a forensic examination of the family's home computer for a possible last message.

At the time of the fire, Anand Tiwari was in Chicago at a class to complete a master's degree in business. Police said the anguished man is cooperating. They said his alibi checked out and he passed a lie-detector test.

The couple married in April 1999 and moved from India to the U.S. later that year. They eventually settled down in Naperville's Cinnamon Creek subdivision. Neighbors described a happy family, but court records documented the recent marital discord.

P. Awasthi told The Telegraph that things soured after he rebuffed a proposal from the Tiwari family to marry their daughter to his son, who lives in the United States.

"She was a brave girl," the father said. "In fact, my son and I had spoken to Nimisha hours before her death. She sounded normal."

In May, she obtained an emergency order of protection against her husband. She accused him of being abusive, controlling and claimed he cut her off financially.

Anand Tiwari denied the allegations. He said it was his wife who, because of her illness, had grown increasingly unpredictable. The computer software engineer also said he was concerned for his children's safety.

Days later, the couple reunited and further court action was not pursued. Anand Tiwari briefly returned Tuesday to his fire-torn Naperville home to collect some belongings. He declined comment while leaving.

Rescuers rushed to the home at 3:45 p.m. Saturday after a motorist saw smoke and called 911. The front door was dead bolted. There were no signs of forced entry.

They found Nimisha Tiwari near the foot of the bed in a second-floor bedroom, a lighter resting near her body. Her children also were on the bed. They did not appear restrained. The gasoline can was found nearby.

The children were alive when the fire broke out, officials said, but neither child showed signs of a struggle. It will be weeks before lab tests are complete to see if the children were drugged.

Services are from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at the Oakridge Cemetery, 4301 W. Roosevelt Road, in Hillside.