A fire destroyed the house and all its contents belonging to one O Binong, a relative and headman of Nongagang village, Ri-Bhoi, on Thursday night.
Binong is the relative of Walinda Binong, the student who died while at university in Rajasthan last week.
Villagers were holding a vigil at night for Walinda and a candle had been mistakenly left lit in the house, leading to it catching fire.
The headman also stated that there was nothing suspicious about the incident, which destroyed property worth Rs 5 lakh.
