Suicide pact gone wrong: Man, wife booked for daughter’s murder

On Monday, the staff of Seasons Hotel and Banquets off the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway had found the body of the child after they heard the woman, Poonam, scream for help from the room

Thane A 39-year-old man and his wife have been booked on Tuesday for the murder of their seven-year-old daughter in a Mira Road hotel on May 27.

The police said that the child died on May 27 after she was given rat poison with her food (HT Photo)

On Monday, the staff of Seasons Hotel and Banquets off the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway had found the body of the child after they heard the woman, Poonam, scream for help from the room. Ryan Bracko, her husband, had already absconded.

After scouring CCTV footage, Ryan was found drunk in a Mira Road lodge near the station on Monday. The police said that the child died on May 27 after she was given rat poison with her food. They were in the room with the body of their daughter for three days before she was found.

Assistant Police Inspector Sudarshan Potdar of Kashimira police station said that Ryan and Poonam had entered a suicide pact because of financial issues. Ryan, who worked as a production manager with a leading production house in Mumbai, had quit in April and was under debt. Poonam works as a pre-primary school teacher. The couple had sold their Vasai flat for ₹30 lakh+ to pay off their debt.

On May 27, Ryan sold Poonam and his phones and checked into the Seasons Hotel. CCTV footage shows that he also visited a bar. Later, the two of them consumed rat poison to end their lives and also mixed it with the child’s food. Ryan had loose motion and Poonam vomited a lot, but both of them survived. However, the child did not.

“Poonam is still in a semi-conscious state at the Tembha civic hospital and we will arrest her after she is discharged. We are waiting for the post mortem report of the child from JJ Hospital. We will arrest Rayan on Tuesday night as the process of filing FIR under Section 302 (murder) is underway,” said Potdar and added that the accused will be produced before the Thane court on Wednesday.