Lucknow’s Old Councillors’ Residence (OCR) situated barely half a kilometre from the Legislative Assembly became the scene of three suicides in three hours on Monday morning.

The first one to fall at 9 am was a woman who appeared to be in her late thirties. But that did not ring alarm bells, for the OCR complex, as it is popularly known, has been the site for many a suicide for which the 9-storey building has earned the nickname “Tower of Death”.

In the last 14 years, 20 people have jumped to death from the residential complex which houses MLAs and politicians.

The other two deaths came within two hours sending the state police into a tizzy. All three were not residents of the complex leading to speculation that there could be some foul play involved.

Initial investigations revealed that there were marks on the railings of the stairs leading to the seventh floor from which the three had jumped or been thrown to their death.

Also pointing to foul play is the fact that the clothes of the first woman to fall had been torn.

On at least three previous occasions, there have been whispers that women who have committed suicide by jumping from the OCR complex were actually gang-raped and then thrown to their death. It is also noteworthy that 19 of those who have been found dead in the complex have been women.