Woman, 2 daughters found dead at Delhi home; police suspect suicide

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) A 42-year-old woman and her two daughters were found dead at their home in southeast Delhi's Molarband on Wednesday, with initial investigations suggesting that they committed suicide due to financial distress, police said.

The three decomposed bodies were found after neighbours reported that a foul smell was emanating from their residence, a police officer said, adding that no suicide note has been recovered from the house.

A PCR call was received from Molarband on Wednesday afternoon. The caller said that a strong odour was emanating from house number 43 on the second floor in street number 16, where the woman and her family stayed, the officer said.

The assistant commissioner of police and the Badarpur station house officer rushed to the spot and found the bodies of Pooja and her two daughters, aged 18 and around 8, he said.

The three had some froth at their mouths, suggesting that they consumed a poisonous substance, a senior police officer said.

According to preliminary investigation, the three took the extreme step four to five days ago due to financial distress, he said.

Locals informed police that the family had not paid rent for the past two months, police said.

The crime team was called to the spot and forensic experts examined it for evidence. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, which will confirm the exact cause of death, they said.

The officer cited above said, "We got to know that Pooja's husband worked as a driver in Gurugram, Haryana. But someone also told us that he died a few months back. We are verifying all the facts." He said the investigation also suggests that Pooja's daughters had not been going to school for the last few months.

Police teams are also scanning CCTV footage to find out where the woman was last seen and from where she purchased the poisonous substance, the officer said.

"The bodies were decomposed. Crime teams will visit the spot again to collect more evidence from the spot. So far, no assault marks have been found on any of the bodies," he said.

A local, M P Yadav, termed the incident very tragic.

"Pooja was staying here with her two daughters for the last couple of years and we never saw her husband. Both the girls were studying and were very humble. Pooja was from Bihar and was facing financial hardship," he claimed.

Another local, Satish Pal Pradhan, said the family was unable to pay rent for the last few months.

"We got to know that Pooja's husband died and as a result, she was depressed. She was facing a financial crunch and this could be the reason behind her extreme step," he said. PTI BM DIV DIV