Life in Prison for Oak Forest Man Who Set Fire that Killed Three Family Members

A grandfather who torched an Oak Forest apartment building seven years ago to kill his pregnant daughter, her husband and their 3-year-old son — because his daughter’s choice of husband offended him — was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole.

Subhash Chander, 64, was convicted in March of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his His daughter Monika Rani, 22, her husband, Rajesh Arora, 30, and their 3-year-old son Vansh. All three perished in the fire at 15859 S. Le Claire Ave.

During the sentencing, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Brewer called the case “one of the most shocking” he had seen, and Chander’s actions the most “callous and cruel commissions of murder I’m likely to see in my lifetime.”

Chander, who’s from Chandigarh in northern India, took their lives because his daughter married beneath her station in India’s caste system and without his consent. Prosecutors said the “cultural slight” upset Chander.

More than 70 people were left homeless when the 36-unit building went up in flames. When firefighters arrived on the scene the night of Dec. 29, 2007, they saw residents of the apartment building jumping from balconies to escape the fast-moving fire.

Prosecutor Robert MIlan said during the trial that the blaze could have been “one of the largest homicides in American history but for the grace of God.”

For more on the fire:

• Father Who Torched Apartment to Kill His Daughter and Son-in-Law Found Guilty of Murder