A suicide note, gas leak: Triple suicide in Delhi apartment

A senior Police official said that it is presumed that they died due to suffocation

Three members of a family were found dead on late Saturday evening inside a flat in southwest Delhi's Vasant Vihar area, police said.

The deceased were identified as Manju Srivastva and two daughters -- Anshika and Anku.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Manoj C said a local resident made a PCR call at Vasant Vihar police station around 8.55 p.m. on Saturday stating that the said house is locked from inside and the people are not opening the door.

The police immediately swung into action and the Station House Officer along with other staff reached the spot and found the doors and windows closed on all sides, and the flat locked from inside.

"The police managed to open the door and found that a gas cylinder was partially opened and there was also a suicide note," the DCP said.

As the police went further to check the rooms, they found three bodies lying on the bed, along with four small traditional hearths.

The room was completely sealed with foils to prevent the fumes from the hearth leaving the room, making it impossible for the three women to escape the fumes.

"Most likely, they died due to suffocation," the senior official said.

It was also learnt that the a few pages of the suicide note were affixed on the wall of the room, however, the police refrained to share the content.

"The content and veracity of the note are yet to be verified and are still under investigation," the official said, adding the inquest proceedings have been initiated.

The preliminary probe revealed that the owner of the house, Umesh Srivastva died in April 2021 due to Covid, and since then the family was in depression as the mother, Manju, was bedridden due to illness.

Though there are three casualties in this particular incident, yet, it has brought the horrific memories of the Burari suicide case in which 11 members of a family died by suicide in 2018.

Ten people were found hanging, while the oldest family member, the grandmother, was strangled.

Police managed to open the door and found that the gas cylinder was partially opened in the house and there was a suicide note too, the officer said.

On checking the inner room, three bodies were found lying on the bed and three small 'angithi' were kept in the room. It is presumed that they have died due to suffocation, Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Manoj C said.

The deceased have been identified as Manju and her daughters Anshika and Anku, police said.

Manju's husband had died in April last year due to coronavirus and since then the family was in depression, and she was also bedridden due to illness, police said.