The death of a man suffering from Covid-19 on Sunday evening allegedly led his wife and daughter to end their lives in Nadia's Kalyani town late in the night.

Bablu Das, 65, a retired Sahara India employee, had tested Covid positive and was admitted to Kalyani’s JNM hospital, where he died on Sunday evening.

Police sources said Dipa Das, 59, and Swagata Das, 26, apparently hanged themselves with saris from separate ceiling fans in the bedroom a little after their relatives and neighbours left for the last rites of Das arranged by civic authorities.

Dipa and Swagata were apparently unable to bear the pain of Das’s demise.

The deaths came to light when relatives and neighbours returned after Das’s cremation and got no response on knocking on the door. They called up the police who broke open the door. The bodies were taken to the hospital where doctors declared them dead.

Bimal Dutta, a neighbour, said: “Ever since Bablubabu was admitted to the hospital, the mother and the daughter went into depression.”

A police officer said they recovered a suicide note apparently penned by Dipa on her fears of life as a widow. “Still, we are examining all possible aspects and waiting for autopsy reports,” he said.