Elderly couple found dead in flooded home in Delhi’s Sangam Vihar, electrocution suspected

An elderly couple was found dead at their home in southeast Delhi’s Sangam Vihar in mysterious circumstances on Monday morning.

An elderly couple was found dead at their home in southeast Delhi’s Sangam Vihar in mysterious circumstances on Monday morning.

The elderly couple, Deen Dayal, 75, and Dhanwanti, 70, was found holding the refrigerator that had fallen on them in the flooded room (HT Photo)

Their bodies were found floating in knee deep water in their ground floor room that was flooded with rain water after Sunday night’s monsoon downpour.

Police suspect electrocution though they were waiting for the autopsy reports . The elderly couple, Deen Dayal, 75, and Dhanwanti, 70, was found holding the refrigerator that had fallen on them in the flooded room.

An inquest proceeding was initiated though electrocution could be the cause, police said.

Natives of Etawah in Uttar Pradesh, the couple lived alone and ran a grocery shop at the house at Sangam Vihar’s E-block. Their three sons live separately with their families in nearby localities.

Their bedroom is in the basement of the house, around three-four feet below the ground, and it gets flooded with rain water, an officer said.

Rajiv Ranjan, additional DCP (southeast), said, “It’s not clear if the couple actually died due to electrocution. We have to wait for their autopsy reports.”

One of the sons, Rajender Singh, a driver, told the police on Sunday evening he and his wife Guddu were at their parents’ home when rain started. He said Guddu used buckets to throw the water out.

Around 11 pm, Deen Dayal asked his son and daughter-in-law to return home, saying they would clean the room in the morning.

Prime facie, the officer said, it appears Dhanwanti woke up in the morning and found the room flooded again. They suspect Dhanwanti went to open the fridge to take out milk to prepare morning tea when she was electrocuted.

“It appears she touched the metal handle of the fridge and was electrocuted. Her husband rushed to save her and touched the fridge. During this, the fridge fell on the couple and was disconnected from the plug,” said the officer

The two were taken to Batra hospital but were declared dead on admission.

Family members and neighbours blamed the civic agencies and Delhi government for the waterlogging problems in their locality during monsoon.