In a spine chilling incident in Delhi, a case of triple suicide has come to light. A family of three women – one mother and two daughters – was found dead inside a sealed apartment in one of the posh localities of Vasant Vihar on Saturday. According to the police officials and a suicide note they discovered in the apartment, the three died of ‘suffocation’.
According to sources, a PCR had called the police to report that a room in Vasant Apartment Society had been locked from the inside and the occupants were not responding. On arrival at the scene, the officers discovered that all the doors, windows, and ventilators were packed with a foil-like substance, apparently to prevent smoke from escaping and to ensure no one could see inside. An angithi (coal fire) was left burning when the cooking gas cylinder’s knob was turned on. The coal fire and lack of ventilation must have caused poisonous carbon monoxide to build up in the room, killing the three. The probe has revealed all of this material was ordered online.
The three dead bodies were identified as Manju Srivatsav in her 50s (mother) and her two daughters, Anshika and Anku. Their bodies were found on the bed inside a room.
According to the information written on the note that the police found near these bodies, Manju packed the house with polythene and made the house a gas chamber as per their suicide plan.
As the police entered the house, they found a note which read, “Too much deadly gas carbon monoxide inside. It’s flammable. Please ventilate the room by opening the window and opening the fan. Do not light a match, candle or anything!! Be careful while removing the curtain because the room is full of hazardous gas. Do not inhale.” This note was written to avoid any fire incident.
Additionally, the neighbours and house help reveal to the police that ever since Manju’s husband Umesh Chandra Srivastava, died of Covid last year, the family had been upset and Manju has been bedridden.
A detailed investigation is still underway as the police have taken the bodies for the post mortem report.
