NEW DELHI: Five people of the same family, including a 48-year-old man and his four daughters allegedly died by suicide at their residence in southwest Delhi's Rangpuri area, an official said on Saturday.
The deceased were identified as Heeralal Sharma (46) and his four daughters - Neetu (26), Nikki (24), Neeru (23) and Nidhi (20).
Sharing details of the tragic incident, Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Rohit Meena said a PCR call was received on Friday in which the caller stated that their tenants were not opening the door of their flat.
Following that the staff from Vasant Kunj South police station reached the spot in Chauhan Mohalla in Rangpuri. Parallely, the Delhi Fire Service were also intimated and they sent a fire tender-cum-rescue vehicle.
Nitin Chauhan, the man who had made the PCR call, met the policemen and introduced himself as the owner of the building.
"He stated that his caretaker Mohan Singh informed him that whi;e cleaning the third floor he got a foul smell coming from flat no. C-4. On knocking the tenants did not open the door. Further, the landlord himself knocked at the door but to no avail. Finally, he made the PCR call," the DCP said.
The door of the flat was bolted from inside and it was opened by the local police with the help of the fire brigade team. The DCP said that there were two rooms in the flat and a man was found lying dead in the first room whereas four females were found dead in the other room.
Sensing the gravity of the matter, the police called senior forensic teams from Forensic Science Laboratory, Rohini, the Crime Team of southwest district, one team from Central Forensic Science Laboratory and a team of senior doctors of Forensic Department from Safdarjung Hospital.
The forensic experts carefully examined the flat and the bodies as well. "No injury marks were found on the dead bodies, however, three packets of Celphos poison, and five glasses and a spoon containing suspicious liquid were found inside the house," the officer said.
The bodies were taken to a hospital while the local police began probing the matter.
Enquiry with neighbours and close relatives revealed that the wife of Heeralal, who was employed as a carpenter in Indian Spinal Injury Centre, Vasant Kunj for the past 28 years, had died of cancer about an year ago.
"He earned Rs 25,000 per month but since January 2024, he was not attending to his duties there. Further, his daughters Neeru and Nidhi were differently-abled," Meena said.
Heeralal's brother Mohan Sharma told the cops that his brother had stopped taking interest in family affairs after the death of his wife and was always occupied with the treatment of his daughters in one hospital or the other.
"The daughters hardly came out of their room. The deceased and his family were last seen on September 24 by the neighbours," the officer said.
Meanwhile the police have initiated proceedings under section 194 of the BNSS.
"A medical board has been constituted for post mortem of the dead bodies and further investigation is underway from all angles," the officer added.