Three minor girls among family of 5 found dead in Dahod apartment
Dahod, Gujarat, India: Five members of a family, including three minor daughters, allegedly died by suicide by consuming poison in their rented apartment in Dahod town on Friday, police said. Dahod town police, which is investigating the case, is yet to ascertain the exact cause but primary probe suggests financial troubles.
On Friday, police discovered the bodies of Saifi Dudhiyawala, a trader of disposable plastic wares, and his family in their rental apartment in Sujai Baug on Dahod-Godhra road of Dahod town after the neighbours alerted the police that the family had not been answering calls and doorbells.
A team of Dahod town police reached the spot and found the bodies of Dhudhiyawala and his wife, said to be in their late 40s, as well as three daughters — twins aged 16 and a seven-year-old — on the floor.
“The bodies of the three daughters and wife were found on a mattress in the room while the man’s body was found in the doorway of the kitchen. Forensic teams have taken samples of a bottle of liquid near the kitchen sink, which appears to be the toxic chemical used by the family,” an officer of the Dahod police said.
They said the forensic teams found traces of the chemical on the kitchen platform, next to a rack of washed utensils as well as tea cups on the edge of the sink. Police officials suspect that the couple poisoned the daughters before consuming the chemical.
The family had moved in to the apartment a few years ago from a village in the neighbouring Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
Relatives of the family said that Dhudhiyawala had suffered heavy financial losses in the past few months since the lockdown and had been seeking help from a few relatives to pay off his debts. They also said that Dhudhiyawala’s brother, Ali, also died by suicide a couple of years ago due to loans.
A family member said, “His brother committed suicide about two years ago after harassment from the loan recovery agents of a private lender, who refused to close his loan despite Ali having paid a major chunk of the amount with hefty interest. We are not sure if Ali’s lenders were now troubling Saifi or if he had also fallen into the trap of some lender.”
Dahod Superintendent of Police Hitesh Joysar told this newspaper, “We have learnt that primarily the family was in financial trouble. The man had a business of plastic disposables. We will speak to the family members to understand other possible reasons after the rituals.” Joysar confirmed that the family had died due to poisoning. “The bodies will be handed over to the relatives after autopsy. We are awaiting the postmortem reports to take the probe forward,” the SP added.
