Bodies found at temple toilet: Broken relationships could have led two women to take extreme step: Surat Police
Police said women bought four anaesthesia injections from a medical store in Katargam area in Surat and they had visited Swaminarayan Temple at Saniya village earlier also
The police said they have found chats pointing to “break-ups” with their boyfriends on the mobile phones of the two women who allegedly died by suicide in a toilet of Swaminarayan Temple in Dindoli of Gujarat’s Surat.
The bodies of the college students, aged 18 and 20, were found from a temple toilet on March 7 with anaesthesia injections, empty syringes by the side and phones with a query on ChatGPT ‘How to commit suicide?’.
The women were allegedly in relationships with men in their neighbourhood in Surat, police said. They were staying with their families, who have roots in Maharashtra.
N P Gohil, Assistant Commissioner of Police, I Division, said, “In the primary investigations, we have found that both girls were in relationships with two men residing in the same area. The elder woman was in an affair with a man for the last one-and-a-half years and they broke up on February 28. The second woman was in an affair with another man for the last three months and they broke up on March 2. The developments seem to have driven them to take the extreme step.”
The women belong to middle-income group families.
On Monday, Dindoli police recorded statements of 12 people, including family members of both girls, their common friends in college and their alleged boyfriends.
The police said the women bought four anaesthesia injections from a medical store in Katargam area in Surat. They had visited Swaminarayan Temple at Saniya village earlier also, police said.
On March 6 , they bunked college and went to Swaminayan temple and locked themselves in a washroom where they allegedly injected anesthesia into each other and ended their lives, police said.
Story continues below this ad
Gohil added, “We are digging out more information and collecting evidence. At present, we have registered an accidental death case.”
Musk reacts to post on incident
The incident gained global attention after US billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday reacted to an X post on the Surat incident by American podcaster and former advisor to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Katie Miller. In her post, Miller claimed that the two students had searched about suicide methods and drugs on ChatGPT before ending their lives. Responding to the post, Musk commented: “Yikes”, leading to widespread discussion on social media about harmful use of AI tools and concerns about their safety. Musk is currently fighting a legal case against OpenAI and two of its founders, renewing claims that the ChatGPT-maker betrayed its founding aims of benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits.
Kamal Saiyed is a senior Correspondent for The Indian Express, providing extensive, on-the-ground coverage from Surat and the broader South Gujarat region and the Union territories of Daman, Diu & Dadra Nagar Haveli. With a reporting career at the publication spanning back to 2007, he has established himself as a high-authority voice on the industrial, social, and political pulse of one of India’s fastest-growing urban hubs.
Expertise
Industrial & Economic Beat: Based in the "Diamond City," Saiyed offers expert reporting on the diamond and textile industries. His work tracks global market shifts (such as De Beers production changes), local trade policies, and the socio-economic challenges facing the millions of workers in Surat’s manufacturing hubs.
Civic & Infrastructure Coverage: He consistently reports on urban development and public safety in Surat, including:
Traffic & Urban Planning: Monitoring the city's 13-fold increase in traffic violations and the implementation of new municipal drives.
Public Safety: Investigative reporting on infrastructure failures, fire safety NOC compliance in schools and commercial buildings, and Metro rail progress.
Political Reporting: Tracking the shifting dynamics between the BJP, Congress, and AAP in South Gujarat and the neighboring Union Territories (Daman, Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli).
Crime beat: Armed with a good source network Saiyed has been able to bring out the human side of crime stories in his region ... Read More
