Families suspect foul play in teen suicides

NAGPUR: Two families, separated by distance and backgrounds, seem united in pain of losing a teenage member under mysterious circumstances at different places. Though police had initially termed the deaths of Saikat Bannerje (17) and Sushma Sindhram (19) as suicides, their families are crying foul pointing to unusual events.
Saikat, the only son of his parents, had left home for college on cycle after sharing meals with parents.His body was found under mysterious circumstances last week in postal department quarters. Sushma was washing clothes in the official quarter of her father, an employee of PDKV. She was later found hanging in the room.
Pradeep Kumar Bannerjee, a private firm employee, said his son could not have committed suicide. "He had no reason to end his life. I was the one to counsel him when he scored unsatisfactorily in the last examination. He was in rather playful mood with his mother before leaving home," he said.
"Saikat’s face sustained severe injuries. If he had fallen with his face up and sustained a head injury, how did he have injuries on his face? His spectacles were crushed into his face. There were so many unexplained injuries on his face and leg," said a mourning relative.
The family members are keen to have all queries about Saikat’s death answered. "Why would Saikat choose a building with which he had no connection? None of the occupants seem to know him. Police should closely look into this aspect," said the relative. "There was also a SMS in his cellphone. Police are silent about it," said Saikat’s father.
Gittikhadan police in-charge senior inspector NR Dambelkar said that the post-mortem report was awaited in the case. "We are procuring call details and would look for clues from boy’s friends," said Dambelkar.
Rekha Sindhram, mother of Sushma, also said her daughter’s face had injury marks. "Why would a girl washing clothes end life in the middle of work? She was not under any stress or show any sign of depression," she said.
"There was a youth who would often try to attract attention of our girl. We had scolded him too. Still he would frequently come near the house. We now suspect foul play in our girl’s death but have not told police for the fear of being ignored," said the mother. Senior inspector Prakash Jadhav of Sitabuldi police was not reachable.