Domestic help in shock after witnessing four suicides
NEWDELHI: Witnessing four members of her employer’s family hanging themselves within two months has shocked Rachna.
The teenager claimed that forgetting the scenes of her employers hanging from ceiling fans will be difficult for her.
Rachna, the domestic help at BK Bansal’s residence in Neelkanth Apartments, did not want to work again after she spotted Bansal’s wife Satyabala and daughter Neha hanging in two separate rooms on July 19.
That day she had cried and subsequently stopped visiting the society, with a fear that she might never be able to get the gruesome images out of her head, said Rachana’s family members.
The girl, however, went back to working for the family a month ago after her employer BK Bansal’s repeated requests. On Tuesday, however, she again witnessed BK Bansal and his son Yogesh hanging from the fans in the same rooms in which Satyabala and Neha had hanged themselves.
Rachna did alert the neighbours about the incident immediately, but told HT that said she had lost the strength to recollect the incident for one more time.
Living in the narrow alleys of Ala Colony in East Delhi, Rachna’s uncle said: “She was scared when I saw her inside the police station. The society’s security guards told me that she had fainted after alerting them about the suicides.”
On Monday she had left the society at 6.00pm as she was told to come late on Tuesday by the father-son duo. They had told her that the doors wouldn’t be locked and she can enter the house for work.
Accordingly, she entered the house on Tuesday and found the father-son duo hanging from the ceiling fans in their rooms. NEW DELHI: Former corporate affairs director general BK Bansal had turned religious to recover from the grief of losing his wife Satyabala and daughter Neha.
Bansal’s wife and daughter had killed themselves in the same Neelkanth apartment flat two months ago where he and his son were found hanging on Tuesday morning.
Bansal and his son Yogesh had started organising pooja in their flat following their neighbour’s advice. Neighbours said that the Bansals had decided to hold religious rituals for 51 days inside their flat.
Raghubir Singh, security manager of Neelkanth Apartments where the Bansals lived, said that even on Monday evening, Bansal had given Rs 2,100 to the society’s priest to arrange some items needed for a pooja.
“The father-son duo looked fine after the pooja started at their home last week. We don’t know what suddenly happened after,” said the security manager.
Bansal’s relatives who live in Hisar, Haryana, said they could not believe their ears when the police informed them about the double suicide on Tuesday
morning.
Ever since being granted bail in the graft case, Bansal used to spend most of his time in Hisar withhisson
“He had started visiting Hisar every week with Yogesh. We were happy that he was recovering from the tragedy, but didn’t know that they planned to commit suicide as well,” said a relative. Three relatives of Bansal had come to claim Bansal and his son Yogesh’s bodies after autopsy at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital.
Bansal’s elder brother was taking care of him in Hissar.
Neighbours at Neelkanth Apartments, where Bansal had been living since 2004 with his family, described him as a humble and religious person. He was known for helping others financially.
“It was only after his arrest we got to know that he was a top ranked government official. He used his own car; there was no official vehicle that ever came to pick him up,” said Harish, a neighbour.
Neighbours also fear that after a spate of suicides, the flat where the Bansals resided will never see another occupant.
They claimed that the duo was depressed and Yogesh’s business had to be folded up after the CBI raids in July.