Woman, 2 kids die in Ferozepur

Family was using a coal-brazier (angithi) to keep themselves warm in a room; police suspect no foul play

FEROZEPUR: Three members of a family, including two children, died of suffocation as they slept with a coal-brazier (angithi) to keep themselves warm in a room at Hamadwala Uttad village in Ferozepur district on Sunday night.

The deceased were identified as Rajbir Kaur, 35, Sahilpreet, 12, and Ekampreet, 5.

Police sources said prima facie no foul play was suspected, as poisoning due to carbon monoxide led to the deaths.

Rajbir’s father-in-law, Kewal Singh, first noticed the absence of the family on Monday morning. He was sleeping in another room but failed to notice the deaths until morning.

“The family has a few cattle at home. As Rajbir was not spotted at the time of milking the animals, Kewal got concerned as the room in which she and her sons were sleeping was locked from inside,” a family member said.

On breaking open the door, the extended family of the victims found them dead. Police took the bodies to the civil hospital in Ferozepur district for post-mortem.

Woman, 4-yr-old son die during sleep in Amritsar

A 23-year-old woman and her four-year-old son died during their sleep in Amritsar, on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, also due to suffocation caused by a coal-brazier.

The victims were Razina and her 4-year-old son, Razan. Police said Razina’s husband Afzul is under treatment at the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, and his condition is critical, the police said.

The family, police said, which belongs to West Bengal and lived in a rented house. Afzul works as a goldsmith.

“On Monday morning, Afzul woke up and raised an alarm by knocking the door of his room. Subsequently, the owners of the house who live on the ground floor rushed to the first floor. They found the woman and her son dead. Afzul was then rushed to the hospital,” said E-division SHO Gurmeet Singh, adding parrots that the family had kept as pets had also died.

Police have initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).