Vasant Vihar Suicides: Why a family of 3 women killed themselves in Delhi

In a shocking incident in Delhi’s Vasant Vihar, a family of three died by suicide on Saturday (May 21). A 54-year old woman, Manju Srivastava, and her two daughters Anshika (30) and Anku (26), ended their lives by inhaling poisonous gases from their angithi (braziers).

According to the police, four purported suicide notes have been recovered from the house which indicate that the suicide was planned for months.

This incident shares some similarities to something what happened in Delhi’s Burari area, where family of 11 died by suicide in 2018.  Here also, police had recovered diaries which showed that the suicide was planned for months.

WHAT THE SUICIDE NOTES SAY

According to a police officer, who spoke to Times of India, a suicide note affixed on the wall read, 'Too much deadly gas..carbon monoxide inside. It’s flammable. Please ventilate the room by opening the window and turn on the fan. Do not light matches, candle or anything. Be careful with removing the curtain because the room is full of hazardous gases. Do not inhale. Open the window from outside.'

The suicide notes which were almost 10 pages, did not blame anyone for the suicides. The note said that they did not want to burden anyone or be dependent financially or emotionally on anyone.

The three had allegedly purchased charcoal from an e-commerce website. On the day of suicide, they had closed all the windows and openings in the room with foils to prevent the poisonous gas from leaving the room.

The cops also found that the nozzle of a LPG cylinder was partially opened and gas was leaking from it. The three were lying on the bed at the time of the incident.

BUT WHY?

The reason which is being attributed for the suicide is depression due to poor financial condition. The suicide note which has been recovered by the police reads, “Hum apni zindagi se haar chuke hai.. (We have lost our battle with our lives). The family pointed towards the financial crisis they faced as they had no support.

The bread-earner of the family, Umesh Srivastava, died last year in April due to Covid-19. The two daughters, who were studying accounting and finance were hit by the financial constraints. Their mother, who remained bed-ridden since the passing of her husband, was also mentally unstable, one of their relatives, Anshul Srivastava told Times of India.