Kolkata: A couple in their 60s, who had lost their son years ago and were dealing with the woman’s recent stroke, were found dead inside their Panchasayar flat on Sunday morning.Police said Asit Ash (66) was found hanging from the ceiling while his wife Mandira Ash (64) was lying unconscious on the bed when officers broke open the door of their ground-floor flat. They were taken to NRS Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared them dead on arrival.Mandira had suffered a stroke a few days ago and was undergoing treatment at SSKM Hospital. She returned home about two days ago but had not been keeping well, police said.Officers said neither appeared to have external injury marks. “We have sent the bodies for post-mortem, but prima facie it seems to be a case of suicide,” an officer said.Police are examining two possibilities. “One is that the husband may have killed his wife and then committed suicide. The other is that the woman died and the husband took his life after that,” the officer said.Police learnt from relatives and residents that the couple had a son who died of kidney failure. A resident of the five-storey apartment said the couple earlier lived in Howrah’s Balitikuri, where Asit ran a lathe machine business. They moved to Panchasayar about a decade ago following their son’s death.Their daughter and son-in-law also live in the neighbourhood, residents said.Mandira’s sister, who lives in the same building, called the couple on Sunday morning. When no one answered, she went to their flat and found the door locked from inside. After repeated knocking failed to elicit a response, police were informed at 9.18 am.“A team went there and broke open the door to find the man hanging and the woman lying unconscious on the bed,” said an officer of Panchasayar PS.Residents told police they had heard sounds from the couple’s flat till around 10.30 pm on Saturday. Neighbours said the couple did not appear to be under financial stress. They also claimed a suicide note and Rs 1 lakh were found in the flat. “They wrote in the note that the money was meant for their final rites and that no one should have to bear the expenses,” a neighbour said.The couple had been living for several years in the ground-floor flat of a building at Naba Malancha, Nayabad, under Panchasayar police station.
