PUDUCHERRY: Three of a seven-member family, who were evicted by police from Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry following a Supreme Court order, allegedly committed suicide by jumping into the sea on Thursday morning. Four others who attempted suicide were rescued.

The deceased were identified as Shanti Devi and her daughters Arunashri Prasad and Rajyashree Prasad. The bodies were washed ashore at Kottakuppam in the Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu. Police recovered the bodies and sent them for postmortem.

Shanti Devi’s husband Gadadhar Prasad three other daughters, Hemlata Prasad, Jayashreee Prasad and Nivedita Prasad – who attempted suicide were undergoing treatment at Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital and Research Institute in Puducherry after being rescued by fishermen and police.

The Supreme Court in its order dated December 9 directed the family to vacate the ashram within a week and also directed the all women police station, Puducherry to evict them if they failed to vacate the ashram. The family members threatened that they would commit suicide if they were evicted.

One of the sisters attempted to commit suicide by jumping from a four-storey ashram building on Wednesday and police managed to save her. Later, police evicted the sisters from the ashram premises.

