Mother, daughter commit suicide, motive unclear

A 48-year-old government school teacher and her teenage daughter allegedly committed suicide by hanging themselves at their residence in the Old Roshanpura area of South-west Delhi’s Najafgarh, police said on Monday. Senior investigators said that police have found a three-page suicide note from the possession of the victims. “We are still going through the contents of the suicide note to ascertain what led them to take such an extreme step,” said an officer.

According to the police, the deceased have been identified as Anita and her daughter, Siya (18), a class XII student in the same school where her mother used to teach.

“We have conducted their post-mortem and preliminary observations point towards a case of suicide by hanging. Further investigation is under way,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police , Surender Kumar.

A police officer privy to the investigation said that the incident came to light at around 7.15 am on Monday morning when Satpal Yadav, Anita’s husband, who had gone to Jaipur, returned home and found his house locked from inside.

“He raised an alarm and informed his neighbour, Ishwar Singh. Singh called at the landline of the victim’s house but the calls went unanswered. He made a PCR call after which a police team reached the spot and broke open the main door and found the duo hanging from a ceiling fan in their respective rooms,” said the officer.

Police said that they shifted the victims’ bodies to the Rao Tula Ram hospital in Jaffarpur Kalan.

Police also said that they found a three-page suicide note from the crime scene but are yet to ascertain the exact motive behind the double suicide.

The officer said that on Monday morning, Satpal returned from Jaipur with his son Aditya, a second year MBBS student, who is reportedly suffering from breathing problems and was seeking treatment from a hospital in Jaipur.

Neighbours gathered outside the house claimed that the family never interacted with the locals and mostly kept to themselves. A neighbour said: “We would never know about what went in their family . They would never interact with us and would keep to themselves. We knew that Anita was a teacher in the local school and would leave her house in the morning along with her daughter.”

Standing outside the Rao Tula Ram mortuary, relatives claimed that they are shocked by the incident.

One of the relatives said: “They were a very well off family and were from an affluent background. They had several plots in Najafgarh and their children were well educated. Their parents were also highly qualified. In fact, they had all met recently for Dusshera celebrations. We really don’t know what transpired in those two-three days.”

Police said that they have initiated a probe under Section 174 of the CrPC (Inquest Proceedings).