Couple found dead, neighbours alerted by infant’s cries
MURDER OR SUICIDE? Police say husband might have killed the woman before hanging himself, neighbour found 6monthold crying
NEW DELHI: A young couple was found dead at their residence in Delhi’s Sangam Vihar early on Thursday with their six-monthold son crying in one of the rooms. The police are looking at murder and suicide angles, though no note has been found at the spot.
The victims are identified as Ram Chander, 31, and his wife Neetu, 27. The couple have a twoyear-old son who was not at home at the time.
A police officer told Hindustan Times that they had received a PCR call around 5.30 am from Neetu’s mother Saroopi. Mohar Singh, Chander’s relative, said Saroopi was informed by a neighbour who heard the cries of the infant Raghav.
The neighbour, a woman, had come to use the common toilet when she heard Raghav’s cries.
As Neetu’s mother reached the house and raised an alarm, other relatives gathered and found that the door of their oneroom accommodation was not latched.
Singh said Neetu’s body was lying on the floor while Chander was found hanging from the ceiling fan in the same room. He was hanging from a noose made from electric cables.
A team from Neb Sarai police station reached the spot. Police said there were ligature marks around Neetu’s neck which appeared to be from electric cable. Investigators did not rule out the possibility of Chander strangulating his wife and then hanging himself.
Raghav, the six-month-old younger son of the duo, was in the room crying.
“The bodies have been sent for post-mortem. We can ascertain the cause of death once the
The bodies have been sent for postmortem. We can ascertain cause of death once the report is obtained. No involvement of outsiders is suspected so far.
A POLICE OFFICER
report is obtained,” an officer said. Prima facie, they ruled out involvement of outsiders.
Since they had not completed six years of marriage, an inquest has been initiated.
“We will wait for the post mortem report and the SDM findings to take further action and decide that a murder case should be registered or not,” said Additional DCP, south, Chinmoy Biswal.
Singh said though the couple fought occasionally, the situation was never alarming.
The deaths, he claimed, came as a surprise as on Wednesday night, Chander spent time with his family and his mother-in-law had joined them for dinner.
“He was not under any debt. We are puzzled,” said Chander’s uncle.
The couple lived in L Block Sangam Vihar and had been married for the past four years. They had dropped off their elder son at a relative’s place in the same neighbourhood on Wednesday, the police said.
Ram Chander’s elder brothers Ram Naresh and Ram Kishore would now jointly share the custody of Raghav and his elder brother Ayush.
Ram Chander’s niece Lata, 19, said that Saroopi had dinner with the couple in their house and then brought their 2-yearold son Ayush to her house, where he usually slept.
“Everything appeared to be fine. She (Neetu) didn’t say anything that would have drawn our attention to a problem. They all had dinner together and then she came to our house to sleep around 9:30pm. Gods knows what happened after that,” she said.