NEW DELHI: A 40-year-old woman and her two young daughters died after a fire broke out inside a locked room on the third floor of their house in south Delhi’s B K Dutt Colony on Tuesday morning.Delhi Police has initiated an investigation and said they are probing all angles. “The woman had been undergoing treatment for mental health issues since 2020,” a senior police officer said.According to the Delhi Fire Services (DFS), a call regarding the fire at a house in B-Block, was received at 10.21am. One water tender, one water bowser and one breathing apparatus tender were rushed to the spot.Around 10.50am, they informed the control room that a woman and two children had been found dead inside the room. At the time of the incident the woman’s husband, a high court lawyer, and his mother were on the second floor of the house. Neighbours said they first noticed smoke billowing from a third-floor window and alerted the family.Irang the doorbell several times and then her husband and his mother came out. At first, they did not understand what had happened. We all rushed towards the balcony leading to the third floor,” said Rahul Nawariya, who lives on the ground floor.Residents said the third floor could only be accessed from inside the house through a staircase on the second floor’s balcony. They claimed that the iron gate leading to the staircase was latched, preventing them from reaching the room immediately.Some neighbours attempted to climb up by placing a ladder on the balcony on the opposite side and tried to enter through windows, but thick smoke and flames forced them back. Firefighters eventually broke open the locked room and found the bodies.The deceased woman’s two daughters were aged 12 and 8. Family members said the sisters were class toppers. They were found near the door of the room, holding each other in an embrace.Family members speaking to TOI also claimed that she had been distressed because her husband had been undergoing kidney dialysis. The family had been living in the house for nearly two decades after moving in with the husband’s father, also a lawyer.The district crime team and forensic science laborato ry inspected the scene. Police said no signs of foul play had emerged so far, but the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. The bodies have been sent for postmortem.
