AFTER PARENTS’ SUICIDE, CHILD TO BE RAISED BY AUNT, UNCLE

Two-year-old Pappu’s father killed himself in east Delhi’s Kailash Nagar on Saturday for he could not bear to hear the toddler’s cries for his dead mother anymore. The boy is likely to be raised by his father’s brother and mother’s sister, who are married to each other.

Thirty-year-old Vijay Dwivedi hanged himself from a fan at his house — 10 days after his wife, Priya, killed herself in the same way after the couple had a tiff over money. After Priya died, Vijay often told his family that he did not want to see his son grow up without a mother. For now, he is being taken care of by Vijay’s sister who lives in the same neighbourhood.

Sanjay and Shilpa, who lived with the dead couple, have two children of their own. They say Pappu will be their third child now. “Since Priya and Shilpa were very close to each other. Shilpa loved Pappu as her own child. We will ensure he does not miss his parents,” said Sanjay.

Though the family and neighbours said the dead couple lived peacefully, it was a domestic quarrel between Vijay and Priya over a monetary dispute on March 22 triggered the suicide.

“Priya asked Vijay for money for some food items that morning. When Vijay refused saying he had no cash in pocket, she broke their piggy bank. I led to an argument after which Priya locked herself in her room,” said Sewaram, the house owner.

When others in the family knocked at the door, they received no response. The room was broken into and Priya was found hanging from the fan.

Over the next couple of days, Priya’s sister Shilpa moved to her mother’s home with her two children to recover from the trauma. “He would often point to his empty house and say that Priya’s absence had snatched the family of all its happiness. We would tell him that he could remarry and start a fresh life, but he would be repulsed by such talks,” said Meera, a neighbour.

But Vijay did not get much time to reflect on his own loneliness. His boy’s constant cries began troubling him. “Each time my son cried out for his mother, I could not bear it... I feel lonely without Priya and am going to be with her,” an investigator quoted from Vijay’s suicide note.