Kamal Ghorui
RAIPUR: A couple and their three-year-old daughter were found dead inside a locked room, with police suspecting suffocation due to toxic fumes from a coal brazier used to keep warm, in Chhattisgarh’s Surajpur district on Tuesday night. The family was sleeping on the floor in a room of their PM Awas when they lit a coal brazier inside the closed space to ward off the cold.Relatives were alarmed on Wednesday morning when the door did not open for a long time. They broke it open and found the three unresponsive. Police said the room had no window or ventilator, leaving no outlet for smoke or gases, and the deaths are suspected to have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.The incident occurred in Chandarpur village in Kotwali region. The deceased were identified as Kawal Singh (28), his wife Kunti (25) and their four-year-old daughter.A police team reached the spot, and sent them for post-mortem. Officers said the scene was being examined and statements of family members were being recorded to establish the exact sequence of events.District officials also issued an appeal urging residents not to sleep in closed rooms with a burning brazier or sigdi, warning that inhalation of fumes in poorly ventilated spaces can turn fatal.Police said further action will follow after post-mortem findings confirm the cause of death. The couple is survived by two other children who were sleeping in another room and were reported safe.
