Triple suicide bid? Woman dead, grandson and daughter critical

KOLKATA: A 65-year-old woman was found dead and her 41-year-old daughter and 14-yearold grandson are battling for life at a hospital in what appears to be a suicide attempt by the family.



The trio, living in a Purbachal apartment under Garfa police station, had reportedly consumed 100 sleeping pills among them. The possible suicide attempt was likely triggered by the daughter’s failed marriage and subsequent custody battle that left the family in financial distress. Police have found a suicide note in the flat, which reportedly mentions financial troubles and marital discord.




Neighbours alerted the police on Wednesday, after they got a whiff of foul smell coming from the flat as the elderly woman’s body was just beginning to decay.

While Basanti Banerjee is believed to have died sometime on Saturday or Sunday, daughter Anindita Mitra and grandson Rishav were taken to M R Bangur Hospital in an extremely drowsy condition. Rishav is still critical and may be transferred to the critical care unit.


Tale of custody battle, money woes in note

Immediate neighbours Dipankar and Soma Bhattacharya said they had last seen Basanti on Saturday night. “We were headed for Purulia and knocked on their door to leave a set of spare keys with the family like we always do. But Basanti told us she could not keep the keys as the family was going to a relative’s house,” Dipankar recounted. The suicide note was written on the same day, December 29.

It was Bhattacharyas’s governess Ujjala, who got whiff of the decaying body on Wednesday. Hours earlier, Ujjala had discussed with Soma how it was odd that the lights were on in Basanti’s flat even during the day. After knocks on the door did not elicit a response, they called Basanti’s number. When no one took the call, Soma and Ujjala alerted other neighbours and decided to inform the cops, who arrived at1.15pm and recovered the body.

Neighbours said Anindita came to Garfa after marrying private firm executive Tapan Banerjee over a decadeand-a-half ago. When Rishav was born with speech and hearing disability, Anindita’s parents sold their Sodepur house and bought a flat close to where the couple lived so that they could take care of Rishav.

But Anindita and Tapan separated in 2012. When Anindita’s father, a former bank manager, passed away in 2015, the family’s financial difficulties began. Since Anindita did not earn, the family began to live on her parents’ savings.

Coupled with the financial distress was the anxiety over Rishav’s condition. “She appeared so downcast at times that she would speak of ending her life. I counselled her repeatedly, reminding her of responsibilities towards her son,” Soma recounted.

The cops said prima facie it appeared that Anindita mixed the sleeping pills during dinner on Saturday. “However, it appears there was proper planning. We will check the exact time of Basanti’s death before we rule out foul play. No external injury mark was found on the deceased’s body. Further investigation is on,” said an officer at Lalbazar.

Even when cops were shifting Anindita and Rishav, the former, despite her extreme state of drowsiness, insisted that they be left to die. In the suicide note, Anindita cited her financial condition and her marital discord followed by protracted legal battles for the child’s custody. The child’s father Rajiv is a senior project manager at a private firm.

Doctors said Rishav was unconscious and his pulse was weak. While Anindita is critical as well, she is in a better shape than her son. “We have initiated conservative treatment for both,” said Asim Halder, the superintendent of MR Bangur Hospital.

“Anindita said she first gave the pills to her mother, then to her son and then had them herself. She said she was depressed over her son’s custody battle and the financial problems with which the family was beset,” said an officer.