'It was their worst nightmare'

Had told friends to book tickets to Odisha, but left behind last note

After the death of their seven-year-old son on Tuesday, Laxman Rout and Babita wanted to permanently return to Odisha for which they told their friends to book train tickets for next day.

Babita was inconsolable. But before anyone could understand, the couple committed suicide in south Delhi’s Lado Sarai, where they had been living for over three years.

Laxman worked with a private firm in Gurgaon which provided services to Pizza Hut, while Babita was a homemaker. Abhinash was a class 1 student at a local school.

Laxman and Babita used to be classmates and had a love marriage. Babita’s father Arnam Malik told Deccan Herald that she was depressed after the incident and wanted to do away with everything belonging to Abhinash.

“Losing Abhinash was the worst nightmare for Babita. After cremating Abhinash at Chhatarpur, Babita returned home and told Laxman to remove things which brought Abhinash’s memories back,” Arnam said.

Babita repeatedly said she did not want to stay at the house anymore. “At that time, we thought it would be best to return to Odisha. Laxman was always a supportive husband and was even willing to leave his job for Babita’s peace of mind,” Arnam added.

While relatives and friends began to gather at the house, Laxman requested many of them to help him get train tickets as soon as possible to Odisha. Family friends said they never got the feeling from Laxman that he will take such an extreme step.

Late on Tuesday, Laxman and Babita requested to be left alone for a while. After about 15-20 minutes, they told people gathered at the house that they were going for a walk.

“They did not return home,” said Mahesh Kumar, Laxman’s friend. A call was made to the police control room at 3.50 am on Wednesday reporting that Laxman and Babita were missing.

“They were found lying in a pool of blood inside the compound of a South Delhi Municipal Corporation school next to their house. The bodies were taken to the AIIMS trauma centre for post-mortem,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South District) Prem Nath. Laxman’s right hand and Babita’s left hand were tied together with a stole.

At the house, police found a note in which Laxman wrote that they had decided to commit suicide. He mentioned what had to be done with the family’s savings and property.

“It was signed by the couple. It was also written in Odia that they did not blame anyone for the death,” Prem Nath added.

On Saturday, SDMC employees also went to the building to conduct fumigation and insecticidal fogging operations. Locals, however, claimed that the municipal corporation had been negligent in conducting dengue drive in their area.

“Four to five dengue cases have been reported in our building, but no step was taken by the municipal corporation,” said landlady Kavita Sejwal.