HASSAN: A 23-year-old woman from Bengaluru died under suspicious circumstances at a lodge near Valalahalli Koodige in Sakleshpur taluk, with police suspecting a gas leak from an LPG geyser in the bathroom.The deceased has been identified as Varsha. She had come to Sakleshpur on Friday with her friends on a trip.The trio visited several tourist spots and were staying in a single room at a lodge near Valalahalli Koodige, police said.Varsha went to take a bath. When she did not come out for a long time, her friends knocked on the door. With no response, they broke open the door and found her lying unconscious.She was rushed to the Sakleshpur public hospital, where doctors declared her brought dead.Preliminary investigation revealed that the bathroom was a small 3×5 ft enclosure with no proper ventilation and an LPG gas geyser installed inside.Police suspect carbon monoxide accumulated in the room during combustion, leading to asphyxiation.“The postmortem report from Hassan district hospital will confirm the exact cause of death,” a police officer said.The woman’s mother, who was also a nurse by profession, suspects foul play.According to the mother, four people, all classmates, had planned a trip, but only three visited Sakleshpur.Locals alleged that the lodge was being run illegally without any safety measures, and installing a gas geyser in such a small, unventilated bathroom was a serious lapse.The two youths who were accompanying the woman are being questioned.Sakleshpur deputy superintendent of police Malatesh and Sakleshpur Rural police visited the spot. Police said a case of negligence is likely to be registered against the lodge owner.
