In the suicide note the couple blamed loneliness for their extreme step.
Akhandanand Ayurvedic College's former principal Dattatrei Vaidya and his wife allegedly committed suicide by setting themselves on fire at their residence in Jivraj Park on Saturday.
In a suicide note, the octogenarian couple blamed nobody but loneliness for their extreme step. The incident turned the mood in their locality sad and sombre.
Neighbours spotted flames coming out of Vaidya's house in Kesariyaji Tenament between 11:00 and 11:30 am and informed the fire brigade. Firemen and police reached the spot and doused the fire. However, by that time, Vaidya, 85 and his 82-year-old wife Bhavna, were burnt to death, Vejalpur police said.
"The couple had locked themselves in a bathroom in their house. They doused themselves with kerosene and then Bhavna fist torched herself. Vaidya followed her," Vejalpur police inspector JH Jalu said.
While searching their house, police found a suicide note written in Marathi. They said in the note that loneliness had made their life miserable.
"Bhavna expressed the wish in the note that the mangalsutra and the sari that she has left behind be presented to the bride of her grandson," Jalu said.
Sources said the couple's two sons have settled out of Gujarat and the couple had been living alone here for years.
"Their son Jayant is an engineer in Nagpur, while Dilip is a doctor in America and has settled there," they said.
After retiring as principal of the government-run college near Bhadra, Vaidya had immersed himself in social service.
He had served as an honourary ayurvedic consultant at Rajasthan Hospital in the city. He was also associated with Thakorbhai Desai Smart Trust, the sources added.
The Vejalpur police have registered cases of accidental death. Further investigation is on in the matter.
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