From a closed 2015 suicide case to three daughters’ deaths, police are now piecing together a troubling timeline that may reveal what went wrong behind closed doors.
Days after three minor sisters jumped to their deaths in Ghaziabad, police on Saturday confirmed that their father, Chetan Kumar, had earlier been linked to another suicide case in 2015, involving his live-in partner, adding a new dimension to the ongoing probe.
Senior police officials said the background is being taken into account as investigators examine the family’s circumstances and the mental state of the children.
2015 CASE WAS CLOSED AS SUICIDE: DCP
DCP (Trans Hindon) Nimish Patil told PTI that Kumar’s live-in partner had died after falling from the roof of a flat in Rajendra Nagar Colony under the Sahibabad police station area in 2015.
“The death was initially treated as suspicious, but later it was declared a suicide after investigation,” Patil said.
He added that there was no evidence at present to link the earlier case with the deaths of the three sisters.
THREE WIVES, COMPLEX FAMILY STRUCTURE: POLICE SOURCES
PTI learnt from police sources after questioning family members that Kumar currently has three wives — Sujata, Heena and Tina — who are biological sisters.
According to the sources, Sujata is the mother of Nishika, while Heena is the mother of Prachi and Pakhi.
Investigators are examining whether the family structure and domestic environment had any bearing on the mental health of the children, the sources said.
SISTERS ADDRESSED FATHER IN SUICIDE NOTE: OFFICIALS
Senior officials said that the suicide note recovered from the room of the girls showed that they were more emotionally attached to their father than their mothers.
“The girls addressed their father in the note and did not mention their mothers,” an officer said.
A nine-page pocket diary was also seized from the room and is being examined as part of the investigation.
PHONES TAKEN AWAY, DISTRESS DEEPENED: POLICE
Police officials reiterated that the sisters had been distressed after their father confiscated their mobile phones.
According to investigators, Kumar took away the phones after noticing their excessive use of Korean apps, online games and foreign friends. He later sold the devices.
On the night of the incident, the girls took their mother’s phone but could not access the Korean applications.
“Forensic examination found no trace of the Korean app on that device,” Patil said.
CYBER, FORENSIC TEAMS WORKING ON EVIDENCE
Cyber crime teams are tracing the buyers of the sold phones through IMEI numbers to retrieve possible digital data, officials said.
Fingerprints, the suicide note and handwritten material have been sent to the forensic science laboratory, and reports are awaited.
“We are probing the case from all possible angles and verifying all claims,” Patil said.
