Three sisters charred to death in Odisha, ‘suicide pact’ suspected

Three sisters allegedly committed suicide by setting themselves on fire in their home in the southern Odisha town of Malkangiri on Wednesday morning, in what the police described as a possible “suicide pact”.

The charred bodies of K Renuka Rao, 30, K Maneka, 25, and K Manga, 20, were recovered from their gutted house.

Malkangiri superintendent of police Jagmohan Meena said the women’s neighbours alerted the fire department when they saw smoke coming out of the house, but by the time the fire brigade arrived, they were charred to death.

“Though gas pipe leakage is said to be the reason behind the death of the three sisters, our investigation shows that it was a case of a suicide pact,” Meena said.

Meena said that the three sisters had placed large stones at the door from the inside to prevent anyone from getting inside, suggesting they did not want anyone to save them.

Locals said the sisters might have committed suicide as they were very poor and under mental stress after the death of their father. The three women were unmarried and seemed to be depressed over some family issue, they added.

The women lost their father P Ganapati Rao 12 days ago and their mother died a few years ago. They are survived by three brothers. Two of them had gone to Rajahmundry district to immerse the ashes of their parents in a river and the youngest went to a barber shop when the incident occurred.

“We have sent the bodies for an autopsy and registered a case of unnatural death,” Meena said.

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