A mother
poisoned herself and her two young daughters by drinking acid after
falling out with her live-in mother and father-in-law, an inquest has
heard.
Heena
Solanki, 34, was found dead in her bed alongside Jasmine, nine, and
Prisha, four, by her widower at their home in Ruislip, west London, in
April last year.
The
biochemist had forced her two girls to drink the toxic substance and
had strangled them before taking the poison and strangling herself, West
London Coroner's Court heard.
Heena Solanki (centre), 34, was found dead in her bed alongside Jasmine (left), nine, and Prisha (right), four
Mrs Solanki, pictured, poisoned
herself and her two young daughters by drinking acid after falling out
with her live-in mother and father-in-law, an inquest has heard
The
inquest was told how police and paramedics who went to the scene were
forced back by the fumes from the substance, which Mrs Solanki had
taken from a locked cupboard at the school where she worked as a lab
technician.
None
of her family attended the hearing but a statement was read out from
her widower, Kalpesh Solanki, in which he spoke of his surprise at his
wife's actions.
'Prior
to her death I believed that Heena was happy and content,' he said. 'We
lived a nice life with our two children, Jasmine and Prisha.
'The
only thing that I was aware of that made her unhappy was that we lived
with my parents. This issue got her down at times but it's the only
issue I can think of.'
He added that they had decided to move out but had not yet told his parents.
The biochemist had forced her two
girls to drink the toxic substance and had strangled them before taking
the poison and strangling herself, West London Coroner's Court heard
Mrs Solanki's bereaved husband said that his wife had never seemed depressed despite the family arguments
Mr Solanki said his Indian-born wife had not shown signs of depression and had never talked of taking her own life.
He added: 'There were obviously things she didn't talk to me about which I didn't know. I'm aware of that now.'
But
he added that there was 'no indication to me or anyone else that I'm
aware of that Henna was so unhappy that this would be her solution'.
The
inquest heard from Mrs Solanki's friend, Branali Chambhare, who said
she had confided in her that 'her father-in-law was a bit cranky and a
bit problematic'.
She added that she had cried about her problems with him on one occasion but did not think she was depressed.
Mrs
Chambhare said her friend had also clashed with her husband and his
parents about their daughters' studies as 'she pressurised her
children'.
'I think her in-laws and husband didn't like it at all,' she added.
The scene outside the family home in Ruislip after the bodies of Mrs Solanki and her daughters were found
An investigating officer taking away objects from the house during the probe into the deaths
She
said Mrs Solanki never spoke of being depressed or harming herself but
used to say she wanted to go and live in India with her children.
Detective
Sergeant Simon Rogers, of the Metropolitan Police's homicide assessment
team said officers were called on the evening of April 12 last year
with initial reports that a third party might have been involved.
'Because of the chemicals that were present staff were overcome with fumes,' he added.
Only
firefighters wearing specialist breathing equipment were allowed on the
scene, where medicine bottles with residual liquid were found on a
bedside table along with a suicide note, the contents of which were not
detailed in court.
Post-mortem examinations found all three died of substance intoxication in association with ligature compression.
Coroner Chinyere Inyama said paperwork had also been found in the boot of Mrs Solanki's car about chemicals.
He concluded that Mrs Solanki took her own life while Jasmine and Prisha were both unlawfully killed.
A
statement from the girls' schools described Jasmine as a 'normal,
healthy, happy child' while Prisha was said to be 'very happy', with no
indications of any troubles at home for either.
Asked to comment as she left the inquest, Mrs Chambhare said: 'They were a happy family and it's a sad thing.'
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