An 83-year-old woman was brutally beaten and set on fire by people who broke into her Meriwether County home overnight, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Three men and a woman demanded money from Dorothy Dow after they entered her house in the 7000 block of Forest Road in Grantville, Meriwether County Sheriff Chuck Smith told Channel 2. The break-in occurred between 11 p.m. and midnight.
“She pleaded with them that she did not have any money,” Smith said.
However, the attackers broke both of Dow’s arms and left cuts and bruises on her face. The people also poured a flammable liquid on the victim and lit it, Smith said.
“I can’t believe that somebody would set a grandmama on fire,” said Beth Dow, the victim’s daughter-in-law.
Beth Dow said her mother-in-law remembered that she had a gallon of water that she used to fill her breathing machine.
“With those broken hands, she took the top off the gallon of water and poured it on her head and put out the flames,” Beth Dow said.
Dorothy Dow is being treated at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Grantville is about 50 miles southwest of Atlanta.
The sheriff is searching for clues. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting in the investigation.
