25 April,2017 04:00 PM IST | | Faisal Tandel
Navi Mumbai family of three who killed themselves over the weekend had been in dire straits. They had neither paid the rent for the last three months nor had they paid their domestic help's salary in four months
Indrajeet Dutta, Dr Jasmine Patel and daughter Oshin
The Navi Mumbai family of three who killed themselves over the weekend had been in dire straits. They had neither paid the rent for the last three months for the 3BHK they resided in nor had they paid their domestic help's salary in four months.
Gynaecologist Dr Jasmine Patel (45) and daughter, Oshin (15), allegedly killed themselves first, leaving behind a suicide note dated April 20. On finding them dead after returning home, the grief-stricken husband, Indrajeet Dutta (50), too, hanged himself to death, after writing a suicide note on April 22.
Mounting dues
The police have found that both Dr Patel and Dutta had been rendered unemployed a few months ago.
Ashok Naik, senior inspector of Kamothe police station, said Dr Patel ran a clinic out of a rented space in Kamothe, for the last seven years, but owed dues of over Rs 2 lakh in rent.
Ravindra Shetyam, chairman of Indravihar housing society, claimed that the family had also missed out on rent payments for the flat for the last three months.
"The flat owner approached us to complain about it. We asked him to give them an eviction notice. The family was supposed to vacate the flat on April 15."
The family usually kept to themselves, barring interactions with a friend, Sushma Singh, six floors above. Singh found a mention in the family's last notes - books and artificial flowers are to go to her as per their wish. She said Dr Patel suffered repeated injuries - a leg fracture and spinal cord injury - after the death of her brother and nephew in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, four months ago. The injuries largely confined her to the bed.
A little after their marriage a few years ago, Dutta left his job and couldn't land another one.
Singh claimed that Dr Patel had served in an army medical camp and was the former chief medical officer in Bilaspur. She said the family told her on April 19 of their plan to shift to Bengaluru.
Another neighbour said Oshin was made to drop out of school owing to her obesity. "She was teased a lot in school due to her weight. She wasn't able to climb the stairs in her school. So, parents asked the authorities to shift her class to the ground floor. But the school didn't agree to this, and Oshin left school after that."
