A six-year-old girl was found dead and her mother partially conscious in a Mira Road hotel room on Monday. The debt-ridden couple from Vasai’s Evershine City, who had lost their jobs and had to sell their flat three months ago, had entered into a suicide pact. However, the husband was not to be found on Monday, Kashimira police said.
Poonam Bracko (30) told the police they fed their daughter, Anayaka, food laced with poison on Sunday night. Then she consumed poison from a bottle and handed the rest to her husband, Rayan, and saw him consume it. She said that as the poison was taking a long time to show affect, Rayan tried to strangle her, after which she lost consciousness.The family had checked into Seasons Hotel on Friday and the staff had last attended to them at 2pm on Sunday.
When Poonam came to around 1pm Monday, she found Anayaka lying still, frothing at the mouth, and her husband missing. She started crying for help, hearing which the hotel staff rushed to the room. Police found a packet of rat poison tablets and an empty bottle of poison in the room. Poonam, who worked as a pre-school teacher at Virar till last year, has been admitted to hospital and is now in a stable condition, police said.
According to police, Rayan left the hotel around 11am on Monday. A search has begun for Rayan even as police have not ruled out the possibility of suicide.
Surjitt Sahani
