Children died in car with all four doors unlocked, but only front doors had levers

Nagpur: The three children, Toufique Khan (4), his sister Aaliya (6) and cousin Afreen Khan (6), who apparently suffocated to death inside a parked SUV at Farooque Nagar on Saturday, could have escaped if they knew the vehicle’s front doors would have easily opened from inside. The bodies of the three children were found piled on each other on the floor in the rear seat on Sunday.
Missing since Saturday afternoon, the cops discovered the bodies of the three children in the SUV after a gap of 24 hours.

The three children most likely playfully entered the parked, Jalgaon-passing SUV being repaired near their house on Saturday afternoon after 2.30pm. The two rear seat doors were dysfunctional, and could not be opened from inside. The children remained trapped inside the four-wheeler without anyone noticing them struggling. On Sunday evening, at around 6.20pm, their bodies were discovered on the floor in the rear seat.
The car, owned by one Ghulam Ashraf Sher Mohammad from Saifi Nagar, was with Sohail Ansari, who owns a garage at Farooque Nagar. Ashraf had given the vehicle to Ansari for repairs around a fortnight ago.
An expert of the Regional Transport Office said none of the four passenger doors of the SUV were locked. The opening and locking mechanism of both rear doors had been dismantled from inside, but the system was intact for the front two doors, he said.
Though the power windows could not have been rolled down, there was a fair chance of opening the front two doors had the children fidgeted with the front door levers. “The front doors may have opened,” said the RTO expert.
The RTO expert said the children did not appear to have tried to cross onto the front seats and open the doors.
Motor Vehicle Inspector Vijay Rathod’s preliminary report said the door levers in the front were operational.
After CP Amitesh Kumar’s intervention, the post mortem of the victims was initiated late on Sunday evening, with special teams roped in for the forensic examination. “Senior officials were present at the mortuary till 3.30am and were consulting with the forensic teams,” said Zonal DCP Gorakh Bhamre.
CP said the inquest and prima facie examination of the bodies found no injuries. “The chemical analysis and histopathology tests have been requested soon, with reports to be submitted to the police in a day or two, to ascertain the real reason behind the deaths,” said the top cop, adding there seemed no chance of foul play as of now. “Suffocation leading to death seems to be the most plausible reason behind the children’s deaths as of now,” said the CP, adding the heat increased the rate of decomposition of the bodies.
The cops were searching parked vehicles, parks and garden at many places but the parked SUV near the victims’ houses skipped everyone’s attention.
Police said the two aggrieved families of the siblings and their kin performed the last rites of the children at Teka cemetery under police guard.