In a freak incident, a pair of three-year-old twins drowned in a washing machine at their home after their mother left them playing as she stepped out briefly to purchase detergent from a nearby shop, police said.
Police said the tragedy was reported at 12.30pm at upscale Avantika Apartment in sector-1 Rohini. Rakhi, alone at home, was making preparations to wash clothes while her sons Naksh and Neeshu were playing around.
“Rakhi, a house wife, told police that she went to buy a detergent at a nearby market leaving the children playing alone at home. When she returned at 12.30pm she did not find her sons inside the house. She started searching for them outside the house while one of neighbours called their father and the police to inform about the missing infants,” said deputy commissioner of police, M N Tiwari.
“The father Ravinder, employed as manager in Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company, immediately returned home and started searching for them. He later found them inside the washing machine filled with 12 to 15 litres of water.
“Ravinder immediately took them to a nearby family hospital where doctors declared them dead. He did not believe the doctors and took them to the Jaipur Golden Hospital where the doctors too declared the children dead,” he added.
The police officers found the machine had around 15 litres water but are yet to ascertain how the twins fell inside, police said.
“The family is in deep shock over this unfortunate incident and is hardly talking to anyone. No one is suspecting any foul play in the incident,” Tiwari said, adding that the bodies have been sent for a post-mortem.
Neighbours said the twins were everybody’s favourite. “Everyone loved the children. They would come out to play in the colony every evening.”
The children’s uncle, Devender Singh, said, “The twins’ birth was a huge event for my brother and his wife. Their death ends everything.”