A septuagenarian woman who lived with her husband in Salt Lake was found dead at home on Wednesday morning and the 84-year-old man, a doctor once attached to the army, was found with multiple injuries.
Police said a note they found in the house said the man wanted to kill his wife and commit suicide.
“It appears the elderly man killed his wife and tried to end his own life,” said an officer of the Bidhannagar City Police.
The woman, in her 70s, was found inside the washroom of the house. She was declared dead at a city hospital. The husband has been admitted to a private hospital.
Bidhannagar police commissioner Gaurav Sharma and deputy commissioner Aneesh Sarkar visited the house.
“The woman is dead. The elderly man is alive but in a critical condition,” Sharma said.
The couple have two daughters. One of them lives in Singapore and the other in New Town.
The police said the reason for the alleged murder and suicide attempt was not clear.
“We have spoken to the family. They are in a state of shock. They appeared clueless about what could have led their father to take this decision,” said an investigator.
The couple lived on the top floor of their two-storey house. The ground floor has been rented out. “The tenants are out of station. So the elderly couple were alone in the house,” an officer said.
Like on other days, their help entered the house through a back door that is usually left open for the maid or the conservancy staff and went upstairs where she found the main door open.
The couple’s neighbour, Rajesh Chirimar, the councillor of Ward 39 of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, said the domestic help alerted him and his wife about the incident.
“She said she saw the elderly man sitting next to the dining table with bleeding injuries. I immediately went to the house. He had burn injuries and sharp cuts on him. An acid bottle was lying nearby. He was still breathing. Kakima (the elderly woman) was nowhere to be seen. I searched all the rooms and then the washroom, where I found her. She was bleeding profusely. I called the ambulance,” Chirimar told Metro.
A senior police officer who visited the spot said the woman’s body had multiple sharp cuts and stab wounds. The man had similar injuries, along with burns on his face and in the mouth.
“The cause of death can be ascertained only after the post-mortem report comes. Several sharp objects like knives, a dan (a tool used to slice fish and vegetables in households) and a pair of scissors with blood stains were found strewn in the house. A few medicine pills and a bottle of acid were found, too. There are multiple possibilities (regarding the cause of death). We are waiting for the post-mortem report,” the officer said.
The findings of a preliminary investigation suggests the injuries on the man were “self-inflicted” in nature.
The officer said it appeared the woman had resisted the attack on her. “There are blood stains all over the house and the place appears disturbed. She must have resisted the attack and tried to save herself,” the officer said.
An investigator who is aware of the contents of the note found in the house said it mentioned that the man was about to kill his wife before killing himself.
“It mentioned that no one was responsible for the couple’s death. It also mentioned that the man was worried about the change in the name and other particulars of a car which one of his sons-in-law had recently sold,” said an investigator.
The officer said that though the mention of the sale of a car did not appear linked to the incident, they would seek more details from the family members.
The note is also said to have mentioned the sale of a property for which the elderly man was “worried”, an officer said.
The police said they would seek more details about what is written in the note and the mental health of the elderly person from family members.
Salt Lake, Calcutta’s twin city, has many elderly residents who stay alone as their children work elsewhere.
The couple were first taken to a government hospital where the woman was declared dead. Their younger daughter got her father shifted to a private hospital.
This newspaper tried to contact her but her cellphone was switched off.
Chirimar said the elderly couple were “very polite and quiet”.
“We saw him during his evening walk yesterday, too,” he said.
