A year ago, in July, a couple’s only daughter had committed suicide. Fifteen days before the anniversary of their daughter’s death, the decomposed bodies of her parents were recovered. This incident occurred at Saptarshinagar in Barasat, on Friday morning.
Neighbours realized that despite saying they were going on a trip, the grief-stricken couple had actually stayed inside their home. On that morning, the bodies of the couple, identified as Ranjan Mandal (50) and Mausumi Mandal (42), were recovered from their house. The police from Barasat police station said that initially, it appeared they committed suicide. They seem to have died from poisoning. A container with some liquid substance was also found at the scene. A suicide note was recovered as well, in which they wrote that no one was responsible for their deaths.
To confirm the cause of death, the police sent their bodies for post-mortem. Speaking to neighbours, it was revealed that since their daughter’s death, the couple felt depressed and felt like there was no purpose for them to live anymore, said neighbour Mamata Roy. Recently, to cope with her grief, Mausumi had taken up a job as a babysitter. Since the family had gone on a vacation, she got a few days off. The couple had told their neighbours that they were going to Mayapur. The police believe the couple committed suicide four to five days ago. A foul smell has emanated from the house since Thursday. On Friday morning, a neighbour called one of Mausumi’s relatives. When he arrived at the scene and informed the police, the bodies were recovered. According to police and local sources, the couple’s only daughter, Parna, was a student at Barasat College. There had been tensions between Parna and her parents over her use of a mobile phone. Ranjan had confiscated Parna’s phone. After that, on 20 July, last year, they returned home to find their daughter’s hanging body.