Sector 12 suicide, murder: ‘He never told us his problems’

“He never shared any of his problems with us. He just would not talk. When I got to know that he was unable to see properly, I asked him about it but he got angry at me. He would not say anything. And, we stay in separate houses, so we do not know much about whether he was under some depression,” said Geeta, Neeraj’s elder sister who stays with her husband and children in the same sector.

The family is clueless on why Neeraj allegedly wrote two suicide notes, but suspect that it was probably his vision loss that led him to take the extreme step. Corroborating what was written in the second suicide note, the family said that Neeraj had lost vision in one eye and could partially see from the other. He had been getting treatment from PGI, Chandigarh.

“We do not know why he took the step. If it was because of his eye problem, he could have easily got it treated. His earnings were fine,” said his younger sister, Ranjeeta who lives in the same village. She said Neeraj also had a house in the village, but refuted that there was any property dispute.

The second suicide note was recovered from the spot, a week after the incident was reported. According to the police, in the second suicide note, allegedly written in the same hand-writing as the first one, Neeraj said that he took the extreme step because he was on the verge of losing his eye-sight and was worried about raising the family. He further requested the police not to harass his family members, as it was his own decision.

However, the letter contradicted all the statements made in the first suicide note which was recovered from the spot, on the day of the incident. In the first note, Neeraj had blamed his step mother, Sudha, and his brother-in-law, Kamlesh, for harassing them, due to which he took the extreme step.

“Our mother died when we were very young, after which father got re-married, and since, then our step-mother has been taking care of us. She also got our sisters married. We do not know why she was named. Also, I used to ask him if he needed money for his eye treatment, but he always refused. I could have helped him,” said Neeraj’s brother, Om Prakash, 23, who used to live with Neeraj and his family.

The injuries found on the bodies of the couple also remain unexplained. According to the post-mortem, Neeraj had a head injury, and there were serious injuries on his wife’s body.

The two suicide notes have been sent for forensic examination. “The forensic examination is must to determine if they were written by Neeraj, as the reason for suicide stated in them is contradictory. There are questions, which need to be answered, and we will investigate that,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Anil Kumar Dhawan.

Following the investigation, the two accused, Neeraj’s step-mother, Sudha, and his brother-in-law, Kamlesh, have returned to their village. While Sudha lives in the village in UP, Kamlesh is a vegetable seller in Delhi. The deceased couple had attended Kamlesh’s marriage in June this year.