IT engineer suspected of strangling wife before suicide in Gurugram’s Sector 68

The incident came to light after his colleagues received an email around 7am on Thursday in which he wrote that “it was his last day on earth”

A 30-year-old engineer died by suicide after murdering his 28-year-old wife inside their rented apartment in an upscale residential society in Sector 68 on Thursday morning, hours after the man’s office received an email from him indicating that ”it was going to be his last day on earth”, senior police officers said.

Investigators said there were injury marks on the woman’s neck, and a rope was found nearby, raising suspicion that it had been used to strangle her. However, the exact cause of death will be established after the autopsy. (Representational image)

The man was found hanging from a ceiling fan in the bedroom, while his wife was lying dead on the floor. Police suspect that the man may have strangled or poisoned his wife before dying by suicide, although the exact circumstances of their deaths remain unclear. The couple had no children.

The couple, originally from Kerala, had moved into a first-floor apartment in Tower 7 of M3M The Marina society in Sector 68 from Bengaluru on August 10 after the man got a new job in Gurugram. Their Aadhaar cards carried a Bengaluru address, police said.

The man, an engineer, worked with an Indonesia-based IT firm that has an office at Magnum Global Park in Sector 58, while his spouse was a homemaker.

The incident came to light after his colleagues received an email around 7am on Thursday in which he wrote that it was his last day on earth. Alarmed by the message, they contacted the emergency numbers he had provided in the email, including that of his father, two relatives and landlord.

A senior police officer said the landlord alerted Badshahpur police station around 8am on Thursday following which a police team rushed to the apartment. With the help of the society’s maintenance staff, officers opened the flat and found the couple dead in the bedroom.

Investigators said the circumstances in which the bodies were found suggested that the woman may have been killed before her husband died by suicide. However, they said the cause and approximate time of the deaths could be established only after the autopsies.

Investigators said there were injury marks on the woman’s neck, and a rope was found nearby, raising suspicion that it had been used to strangle her. However, the exact cause of death will be established after the autopsy.

Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said investigators were also examining whether the email had been sent by the man himself or scheduled for delivery. “Preliminary probe indicates that the man strangled his wife with a rope and then died by suicide. He had mental health issues, which he mentioned in the email sent to his office,” he said.

“It is also being investigated whether the email was scheduled to be sent at 7am. Three phones and two laptops were seized from the apartment and their forensic analysis will make things more clear,” he said.

The couple’s families have been informed and are expected to reach Gurugram by late Thursday. Police said they would speak to family members and others who had been in contact with the couple shortly before their deaths to piece together the events leading up to the tragedy.

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