Techie, wife found dead in bathroom; poisonous gas leak from geyser suspected

Bengaluru, Jul 11: A married couple found dead in the bathroom of their flat in Rajarajeshwarinagar, southwest Bengaluru yesterday.

The victims have been identified as Mahesh H, 35, software engineer and his wife Sheela, 30, a homemaker, who hailed from Athani in Belagavi district. They are survived by two daughters aged 6 and 4.

Police suspect the couple suffocated to death after inhaling carbon monoxide that leaked from the substandard gas geyser in the bathroom. Postmortem will confirm the cause of death.

Police said the incident came to light around 2.30pm when the girls returned from school. The family stayed in the first-floor flat of Shivaganga Apartment at Pattanagere. The younger girl returned from school around 12.30pm and went to the house of relatives who stayed on the ground floor of the apartment.

The elder daughter arrived around 2.30pm, and the relatives began calling Mahesh and his wife. When there was no response, the relatives went up to find the flat door locked from inside.

They rang the doorbell for a long time. When there was no response, they informed police, who opened the door and found the duo dead in the bathroom. “We’ve shifted the bodies to Victoria Hospital for postmortem and informed their relatives in Athani,” a police officer said.

Gas geysers are preferred as they are cheaper. Lack of ventilation turns bathrooms into a gas chamber when carbon monoxide — a byproduct during the heating of the water — leaks. People trapped inside small bathrooms fall unconscious and die, an officer said.