Subhash Sonavne, a resident of Lal Dongar near Sanduwadi and one of the three members of a family that committed suicide on July 24, left two suicide notes behind.

One note is addressed to the police, in which he has alleged that he was killing himself and his family because a neighbour was harassing him and his wife. The other is written for his surviving son Rahul, who is five years old right now.

Subhash (30) and his wife Rohini (25) killed their daughter Rinku (2) and then hung themselves. In the note he left to the police, Subhash says that a neighbour named Ashraf Sayed was harassing Rohini.

Sahebrao Aaba Sonavne, Subhashs father, says, Ashraf threatened to kill Rohini and her husband if she didnt satisfy his sexual demands. Subhashs aunt Shakuntala Sasane adds, Ashrafs family also supported him and both families were in constant conflict.

The Sonavnes had filed four complaints against Ashraf over the last four months but Subhashs younger brother Nitin says the police did nothing. On July 17, the Sonavnes and Sayeds got into a fight and in the process, Rohini bruised her hand.

We went to the police station and stayed there till 3 am, when we were told to leave. Despite seeing Rohinis wounds, the police didnt take any action, says Nitin.

Ashraf has been missing for the last 15 days. After the suicide, the police arrested Ashrafs parents and his four sisters because they were named in the suicide note.

Inspector Subhash Dafle from Basant Park police station says, Ashraf was interested in Rohini and his family was spreading rumours that Rohini is a woman of loose character. Maybe the family was humiliated by that and committed suicide.

Senior inspector R Waghmare adds, We had taken action after the complaint was filed on July 17. We called members of both families and asked them to put an end to the problem.

The police claim they filed two NCs and a written application against Ashraf before that. They also called his sisters to the station and asked them to stop torturing Rohini.

riddhi.doshi@mid-day.com

What happened on July 24

Subhash lived in a joint family with his parents and siblings. At around 9.30 pm, after dinner, Subhash, Rohini and Rinku locked themselves in one of the rooms in the slum. They hung Rinku first, and then killed themselves with a rope suspended from an iron rod on the ceiling.

They were found at around 10 pm, when someone from the family tried to get into the room and realised it was locked from inside. The police, was then informed and the bodies were taken to Rajawadi hospital for post-mortem.