Mother, sons suffocated to death as they sleep with angithi in room

Three members of a family, including two children, died of suffocation as they slept with a coal-brazier (angithi) to keep themselves warm in a room at Hamadwala Uttad village in Ferozepur district on Sunday night

Three members of a family, including two children, died of suffocation as they slept with a coal-brazier (angithi) to keep themselves warm in a room at Hamadwala Uttad village in Ferozepur district on Sunday night.

The 35-year-old woman and her sons, aged 12 and five, were found dead after the door to their room was forced open at Hamadwala Uttad village in Ferozepur district on Monday morning. (Representational image)

The deceased were identified as Rajbir Kaur, 35, Sahilpreet, 12, and Ekampreet, 5.

Police sources said prima facie no foul play was suspected.

Rajbir’s father-in-law, Kewal Singh, first noticed the absence of the family on Monday morning. He was sleeping in another room but failed to notice the deaths until morning.

“The family has a few cattle at home. As Rajbir was not spotted at the time of milking the animals, Kewal got concerned as the room in which she and her sons were sleeping was locked from inside,” a family member said.

On breaking open the door, the extended family of the victims found them dead. Police took the bodies to the civil hospital in Ferozepur district for post-mortem.