3 of a family found hanging at home in IIT-Delhi campus

A 35-year-old man, his wife and his mother were found hanging in three different parts of their residence inside the IIT campus in south Delhi, police said on Saturday.

Gulshan Das, who worked as a senior lab assistant in the department of bio-chemistry at the premier institute, was found hanging from an overhead rod in the corridor. His wife Sunita and his mother Kanta were found hanging from ceiling fans in two bedrooms on Friday night, they said. Police said the door of the house was open when they reached there.

"All were hanging with pieces of cloth," Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Devender Arya said.

He said crime and forensic teams have analysed the scene and prima facie, the deceased did not have any external injuries and the bodies were moved to Safdarjung hospital.

The couple married in February 2019 and had no children. It was second marriage for both of them, police said.

A domestic violence complaint was filed against Das by his wife merely two months after their marriage. Sunita had alleged that Das used to assault her and had asked her to leave the house. She had also alleged that he had demanded dowry from her family, police said.

They suspect the couple might have fought on Friday night following which the three family members took the extreme step. No suicide note has been recovered, however.

A senior police officer said they were alerted by Sunita's mother Krishna Devi, who lives in Naraina, at 10:59pm on Friday. "She called her daughter all day but Sunita did not respond, following which she panicked and informed police," the police officer said.

An inquest has been initiated by a magistrate as mandated by law, since the couple had not been married for more than seven years, he said.

The post-mortem examination will be conducted by a board of doctors, which has been constituted. The investigation so far suggest the case to be of suicidal hanging, the DCP added.