The older of two sisters, who were found in a state of acute starvation died in hospital on Wednesday morning, a day after they were rescued following seven months of self-confinement in their home here. Their brother said they were severely depressed.
Anuradha Behl, 41, died at 8.05 a.m., Sanjay Mahajan, the doctor who attended to her at Kailash Hospital in Noida said. Malnutrition led to the multiple organ failure, which ultimately led to the cardiac arrest, he said.
After she was rushed to the hospital along with sister Sonali, 38, she was given the best treatment in the ICU of the hospital but could not be revived from the unconscious stage in which she was brought in, he said.
The two were rescued by Noida police on Tuesday. They had shut themselves up in their house No.326 in the posh Sector-29 for seven months. They had been depressed after the death of their father Colonel (retired) O.P. Behl, police said.
"Facing acute depression, my sisters could not come out of the home despite full support from me. I had gifted the parental properties, including fixed deposits, to them," their brother Vipin Behl told IANS Wednesday.
Both were found in a state of acute starvation. The elder sister suffered multiple organ weakness due to insufficient vitamin intake, said the doctor.
The two sisters had a great academic record and had doctorate degrees, police said.
When social activist Usha Thakur and residents welfare officials failed to rescue them, they contacted senior police and civil officials, including the district magistrate and the city magistrate who asked police to rescue the sisters.
"I sent a police official to rescue the sisters. On failing to get them to open the door after several knocks, the official was authorised to use force. He called the carpenter to break the gate. Then the sisters were brought out and put under treatment. The elder sister was unconscious while the younger one was stable and could speak a little," said Inspector Vijay Prakash.
According to Sandeep Vohra, a psychiatrist, it could be a case of extreme emotional withdrawal.
"It could be extreme depression or depression underlined by some sort of psychotic element in it. In a case like this, both the daughters must have been emotionally dependent on their father and he may have been the one taking all the decisions for them," said Vohra.
According to him, this can also happen to people who are deeply introvert.