Fear among children in Shalimar Bagh after man kills kids before jumping in front of metro train

Residents of Shalimar Bagh on Monday said there was a palpable sense of fear, especially among children, who felt vulnerable even in the presence of their parents, as they discussed about the suicide of a 44-year-old man who took the extreme step after allegedly killing his children. On Sunday, Madhur Malani allegedly killed his daughter and son before ending his life by jumping in front of a Delhi metro train at Haiderpur Badli Mor station.

He used to stay with his wife Rupali, daughter Samiksha (14) and six-year-old son Shraiyans at a rented house in Shalimar Bagh. The neighbours were in a state of shock when they got to know about the incident.

"My children are fearful and feel unsafe after they got to know that the two children were killed by their father. It's difficult to make them understand about the circumstances under which one took this extreme step. It's important to make them understand so that they feel secured," said one of the neighbours who did not wish to be named. As they discussed about the tragedy, neighbours remembered Samiksha and Shraiyans as bright children.

"Both the children were very smart and bright. It's hard to believe that they are no more. The two children would always greet us whenever they used to meet. I have been seeing Shraiyans ever since he started going to school. He was cute and talkative," another neighbour said. According to police, Rupali was not at home when Madhur strangled their children.

The neighbours recalled that Rupali had left for a nearby market at around 3.30 pm while the two children were at home with their father. At 5 pm, some of the neighbours spotted Madhur leaving the house.

When Rupali returned, she found the house locked. She rushed to get the spare keys of the house and found bodies of her children in two different rooms, the neighbours claimed. Within minutes, some of the neighbours heard Rupali scream "Madhur ne bacchon ko mar diya" (Madhur killed my children) and immediately reported the matter to police.

No suicide note was recovered, but police claimed that Madhur was depressed since his sandpaper-manufacturing factory was closed some six months ago due to financial crunch leaving him jobless. Madhur's parents had been supporting his family financially since then. The suicide was reported to the police at 5.40 pm, while the Shalimar Bagh Police station received a call about the killings around 6.50 pm.

The police said they have seized the mobile phone of Madhur and collected the CCTV footage of the locality to ascertain the exact sequence of event. "We will also be analysing the route taken by Madhur and examine the CCTV footage to ascertain the timing and know who entered the locality to be sure that no outsider was involved in the incident," a senior police officer said.

The Call Detail Record of the deceased would also be analysed, the officer said. The bodies were handed over to the family after postmortem, police said.

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