Crime & Safety

Woman Pleads Guilty in Religious Shrine Fire

Sunitha Budithi, of Woodridge, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after a religious shrine in her apartment caught fire while her two young children were in the home.

A Woodridge woman pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection to the May 2011 apartment fire in Seven Bridges that endangered two young children.

According to The Daily Herald, Sunitha Budithi, 40, was set to stand trial Wednesday but entered the guilty plea Jan. 7. Budithi was given two years of court supervision and must spend five days in a sheriff's work alternative program, according to the Herald.

Budithi left her two children alone when she went to move her car in the parking lot of the apartment complex in the 6600 block of Double Eagle Drive.

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While she was out, an unattended open flame in a closet being used as a shrine started a fire in the apartment.

The two children were found by first responders of the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Department in the apartment and rescued. They were taken to Edward Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

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The children were 2 and 6 at the time of the fire, according to Kate Croteau, management analyst for the Woodridge Police Department.

In June 2011, Budithi pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Read more: Woman Charged with Endangering Her Children In Fire

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