Child found dead, mother unconscious in Maharashtra hotel room; cops suspect ‘suicide bid’

Thane, May 31

A six-year-old girl was found dead and her mother lying unconscious in a hotel room here in Maharashtra, with police suspecting that the woman and her husband had entered into a “suicide pact”, an official said on Tuesday.

The woman’s husband is missing following the incident on Monday, he said.

The couple was in debt and had sold their flat in Vasai area of neighbouring Palghar district, the official from Mira Road police station said.

Rayan and Poonam Brako (30), along with their daughter Anakya (6) checked into the hotel in Mira Road area on Friday, he said.

They allegedly gave poison-laced food to their daughter on Sunday night. Later, the woman also allegedly consumed poison. She gave the poison to her husband, who also consumed it, the official said.

The hotel staff attended to the family on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

Around 1pm on Monday, the woman raised an alarm on seeing her child lying motionless, the official said.

Some medical experts were called in and police were alerted.

The minor’s body was subsequently sent for post-mortem and the woman was rushed to a hospital where she is currently undergoing treatment. The police found a bottle of poison in the hotel room, the official said.

The woman’s husband had apparently left the hotel before noon and is missing since, the official said, adding that they suspected the couple had entered into a “suicide pact”.

According to the police, when the man found that the poison was not acting on his wife, he allegedly tried to strangulate her following which she fell unconscious.

The woman worked as a schoolteacher till last year, the official said.

Efforts are on to trace her husband, he added.