Mother, Four Children Dead After Spending Night In New Apartment

A mother and her four children were mysteriously found dead in India’s New Delhi, exactly a night after the family shifted to their newly rented apartment.

At around 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 19, the police control room received a call reporting about finding four to five unresponsive individuals inside the fifth-floor single-room apartment of a building in the Old Seema Puri area.

Responding officers found a woman and three children inside the home and they were pronounced dead at the scene, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara district), R. Sathiyasundaram, confirmed.

It was revealed that six persons -- Mohit Kalia, his 30-year-old wife Radha, their two daughters, aged 11 and 4, and two sons, aged 8 and 3, had shifted to the one-room rented accommodation just a day ago.

According to reports, the family retired for the night a little early than usual on Tuesday, as they were tired from the shifting. Mohit said when he woke up in the morning, he found his wife and the three kids lying dead next to him.

When the man realized his younger son was still breathing, he rushed him to a nearby hospital, but sadly, the doctors declared the child was brought dead.

According to a preliminary investigation, the cause of death was "due to asphyxiation". Investigators reported finding a fireplace just next to the dead bodies.

"There was no ventilation inside the room," said the officials, local media reported.

"Further probe is on," the police said, adding that the forensic team was investigating the scene to collect crucial pieces of evidence.

"The bodies have been sent to the medical examiner’s office for an autopsy and the exact cause of death is yet to be revealed, as results are being awaited," the officials said.

A similar incident was reported from India's Punjab in December, last year, when three siblings were found dead in the morning after the family of five slept with a coal brazier in a room at their house in Abohar town.

10-year-old Pooja, her 9-year-old brother, Deepu, and her 3-year-old sister, Poonam, were all declared brought dead by the doctors. Their father Krishan, 35, and mother Radha, 32, were also rushed to the hospital in critical condition and have survived the tragedy, according to reports.

The autopsy results revealed the children died of asphyxiation due to the smoke from the "angithi".