'She was undergoing treatment for mental health': Fire in Delhi flat kills woman, her two daughters; probe on

A 40-year-old woman and her two daughters, aged 8 and 12, died in India's New Delhi, after a fire broke out at their third-floor flat in BK Dutt Colony near Lodhi Colony on Tuesday morning (July 22), police and fire officials said. According to reports, their bodies were found inside the single-room flat on the third floor of a three-storey building. The woman's husband has been identified as Mohit Sharma, a lawyer practicing in the Delhi High Court and Tis Hazari Court, and her mother-in-law has been identified as Sarita Sharma. They were reportedly on the second floor when the fire broke out, officials said. Police said the cause of the fire was not known and an investigation had been initiated. No evidence of foul play has emerged so far.

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"Three fire tenders were pressed into service after the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) control room received a call at 10.21am reporting a blaze at a house in B-Block, BK Dutt Colony. The fire was brought under control by 11.10 am, officials said. “The fire was on the third floor of the house. A woman and two children were found dead inside the flat during the firefighting operation,” a senior DFS official added. “No signs of foul play have come to notice at this stage, however all angles are being probed. The exact cause of the fire is under investigation and will be communicated after further examination. Preliminary inquiry indicates that the woman had been undergoing treatment for a mental health condition since 2020,” said deputy commissioner of police (south) Anant Mittal.

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HT report quoted a civil contractor who lives in the adjacent building named Rahul Nawariya, saying: “Since access to the third floor was through the second-floor balcony, we rushed there and opened the wooden door. However, we could not open the iron door behind it. Despite our best efforts, it would not open.” “We then tried to open the windows. One was locked from inside. As we opened the other, flames and thick smoke burst out, forcing us to step back. By the time firefighters brought the blaze under control, the woman and her two daughters had died,” he added.