Mumbai: A middle-aged couple was found to have died by suicide in their rented residence in Nagpur on Sunday evening. The couple left behind a suicide note blaming their landlady for sustained harassment over three and a half years, including forcing them to pay her water and electricity bills along with their own.
According to the Kalamna police, the deceased have been identified as Manoj Lodhi (50) and his wife Mamta (45). The Lodhis used to stay on the first floor of a modest ground-plus-one structure, while the owner of the building stayed on the ground floor. The couple had been staying there on rent for the last three and a half years.
The police said that the couple was last spotted by their neighbours on Sunday afternoon but neither of them stepped out of their house for several hours after that. One of their neighbours peeped in through a window late in the evening just to make sure that everything was alright, and saw both of them hanging in the living room. The neighbour immediately called the police and a team was rushed to the spot. Manoj and Mamta were rushed to a local hospital where they were declared dead before admission.
The police subsequently searched their house and found the suicide note.
“The deceased had stated in there suicide note that they were facing prolonged harassment from their landlady, who would allegedly mistreat them at every opportunity she got. They also wrote that she would make them pay the entire water and electricity bills for the entire house, even though she used more water and power than they did, which was making life increasingly difficult for them,” police inspector Mahendra Ambhore, Kalamna police station said.
Further inquiries added that the Lodhis were already living a hard life. Manoj had suffered a paralytic attack which left him partially disabled, and was dealing in used cars to make a living. Mamta was a housewife. The couple had two children; a daughter who is married and stays with her husband and a son who was not staying with them. Their relations with other relatives, too, appeared to be strained, as they had, in their suicide note, requested that their bodies be donated to a medical institute and not be handed over to their relatives.
“We are conducting investigations to verify the allegations made by the deceased in the suicide note. Inquiries are being conducted with the Lodhi's relatives and we will also be making inquiries with the landlady. Accidental Death Reports (ADRs) have been registered for the moment and further course of action will be decided based on the results of our investigations,” Ambhore said.
