A 21-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman, who were second cousins, allegedly died by suicide in Deer Park of Hauz Khas, south Delhi, on Sunday morning, police officers aware of the matter said, adding that the deceased likely took the extreme step because they were in a romantic relationship opposed by their families.
According to police, the victims, who were originally from Nepal, hanged themselves from a tree inside the park. The control room received a call about the incident at 6.31am from the park security guard. “The call was made by guard Baljit Singh, 35, who lives in Hauz Khas village,” additional deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Akansha Yadav. Police have initiated inquest proceedings in the matter.
An officer part of the investigation said that police did not find a suicide note from the deceased. The crime and forensic teams recovered two broken phones from the site. “No SIM was found inside the man’s phone, but the woman’s phone had a SIM, which was then inserted into another phone. Her family had been calling her, who then identified the victims,” the officer said, asking not to be named.
The bodies were shifted to a city mortuary for the postmortem examination, after which they were handed over to the families.
The victims were originally from Arghakhanchi in Nepal where their parents lived. The two came to Delhi a few years ago for work. The man worked at an eatery in Lodhi Colony and lived with his brother in the Pilanji village area of Laxmi Nagar, east Delhi, police said. The woman lived in south Delhi’s Chhattarpur with her sister and worked as a babysitter in the area for a few families.
“The man left his house around 2pm on Saturday saying he was going for work, his 24-year-old brother said. The woman’s sister said that she had been staying with their aunt in Humayunpur village for the last three days and she had also left the house around 2pm on Saturday on some pretext,” the officer quoted above said.
The two had lunch together on Saturday afternoon, officers probing the case said, adding that they went to the park around 8pm. The man’s brother told police that he made a call around 12.30am on Sunday. The victim then hung up saying he would call again later as “he was caught up with something”.
“The brother said he tried calling the victim again but his phone was switched off. These claims are being verified and we have sought call detail records of the deceased couple,” the officer said.
According to police, their families told investigators that the two had been in a relationship for a few years. “Their grandfathers were siblings. Their families were strictly against the relationship because they were related by blood,” this officer said.
The couple had informed their families about the relationship about around a week ago and had eloped to get married couple of days after. “They were brought back home from India Gate and strictly told that they could not be together,” the officer said.
According to the man’s sister-in-law, the two had told their families on March 16 that they wanted to get married. “But we told them that they were related by blood and should not be together,” she said adding that on March 18, the two left their respective houses to get married.
However, the families got to know about their location and they were caught at India Gate on March 20. The sister-in-law refused to share details about how they traced the two.
The woman’s paternal uncle told HT that the couple was upset with their families’ objections and the woman’s father sent her to live with her aunt in Humanyunpur. “Her father, who is in Nepal, decided that she should stay with the aunt under more supervision,” he said.
A 38-year-old common relative of the victims said: “They had been in a relationship for a while, but we don’t know how long. They were told several times not to pursue it, but were adamant.”
Walkers in the park raised concerns about the safety, saying they suspect foul play. “The branch of the tree was too thin to carry the weight of two people. They were likely murdered and hanged,” said Kishan Dutt, a 48-year-old resident of Hauz Khas. However, police have ruled out foul play in the incident so far and said they were waiting for the postmortem report.
Another resident, Ashok Kumar, said,” The incident is a sign of security threat in the park. There is a need for CCTV cameras at the main gates. Crimes have been reported from the park previously.”