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KOLKATA: A 37-year-old man allegedly murdered his 30-year-old wife before killing himself at their residence on the northern fringes of the city on Monday morning on mere suspicion of an affair over a Facebook post.

Police suspect Sourav Das smothered his wife Papiya and hanged himself at their Titagarh home after a rift developed in their relationship over a social media post. “Prima facie, we have reason to believe Das suspected his wife of having an affair and the couple used to fight over the over the woman’s Facebook activities,” an investigating officer said.

Police also suspect Das killed his wife as soon as he returned home after dropping off their three-and-half-year-old daughter at her school.

Cops broke open the door of the first-floor flat at Titagarh’s Subhas Colony to find their bodies. The main door was locked from inside. Das was hanging from the ceiling in the drawing room while his wife was on the bed in an adjoining room.

According to local sources, Das, an employee of a Kolkata-based private fire safety company, had married Papiya, who worked in a polyclinic at Barrackpore , nearly nine years ago after falling in love. The couple’s child studies in a Kindergarten at Barrackpore’s Anandapuri.

Neighbours, however, claimed both Das and Papiya were happy together until a rift developed in the couple’s relationship barely a few months ago on the suspicion of an affair. “The two were always cheerful and maintained good relations with the neighbours. We never felt anything was wrong with their lifestyle. But the couple’s relationship turned sour in recent past as they had frequent fights over some Facebook post,” a local resident said.

According to a family sources, both husband and wife had Facebook accounts and were active online. “Das didn’t like his wife’s engagement on Facebook and began to suspect her over some posts he found in her profile. Though she tried her best to convince him she had no interest in those posts, Das started suspecting her that led to frequent fights between them,” a family member said.

Das’s brother Ujjal, who resides in the same area, got suspicious after he didn’t get any response from their flat despite repeated knocking.

“On Monday morning, my elder brother took his daughter to her school as usual. It was around 11.30am when I called on my brother’s cellphone repeatedly because of a family matter and but it went unanswered. Then I called my sister-in-law but she didn’t respond either. I rushed to their flat to find it locked from inside and nobody answered it,” he said.

A police team from Titagarh PS reached the spot. “The bodies were sent for autopsy. We suspect the man choked his wife before committing suicide over a family feud. An investigation is on,” said K Karnan, DCP-I, Barrackpore commissionerate.

