NEW DELHI: A mother and her two daughters were found dead in their flat in the city after inhaling poisonous gas. The incident took place at Vasant Vihar in Delhi last night. Police have found a suicide note in the flat. Manju Srivastava, 55, a Vasant Vihar native, and her children Anshika and Anku have been identified as the deceased.
The police had received information that their house was locked from the inside and it was not being opened for some time. The police reached here and then kicked open the door and found the three dead on the bed in the room. The suicide note received from the flat was shocking. It gave instructions to those who entered the room.
'Carbon monoxide inside is burning. Please turn on the fan, open the window and ventilate the room. Do not light a match or candle. Be careful when removing the curtain. Do not breathe 'were the instructions in the note written in English.
All doors and windows in the house were securely closed with polythene to prevent air from escaping. It was found that these were ordered online. The cooking gas cylinder was also open. Coal was also burning in the room. The preliminary conclusion is that the coal fire and lack of ventilation caused the accumulation of toxic carbon monoxide in the room, which may have led to the deaths of all three.
Manju's husband Umesh Chandra Srivastava died of Covid last year. Neighbors say the family was upset after this. Manju had recently fallen ill and was bedridden. Police suspect this may have been the cause of the suicide.
