Krishnagar, Jan. 3: On the last day of Durga Puja, her son Babu consumed pesticide on being refused Rs 5 to go to see the immersion of idols. Two days ago, Sujata Malakar killed herself the same way, unable to bear the loss of her son.

Addressing her Madhyamik examinee daughter Susmita, Sujata, 40, scribbled a two-line note. “I could not do anything for you while I was alive. It will not make any difference if I am not there. God will look after you,” she wrote.

Sujata’s death has orphaned 16-year-old Susmita. She lost her father, Ashok, in a road accident four years ago.

When Sujata consumed poison around noon on Sunday, only her mother Bulbuli Ghosh was at their home in Hogolberia, 190 km from Calcutta.

Susmita had gone to the nearby village of Natna to attend a free coaching class at a friend’s house.

Police said Sujata must have decided to kill herself some time back. She went to her neighbours and asked them to look after her daughter as she would be away for some time.

“When we asked her where she was going, she told us that she may have to leave the dist-rict in search of work,” said neighbour Bablu Biswas.

Sujata drank a full bottle of pesticide. When she groaned in pain and fell to the ground, Bulbuli raised an alarm. Writhing in pain, she was taken to the Karimpur block hospital where she died in the evening.

Susmita came to know of the incident after she returned from her tuition. She went to the hospital, but Sujata was dead by then.

“My mother used to cry whenever I asked for money for a dress or books. She wanted to help, but she was helpless. I had stopped asking for anything after my brother died,” Susmita said. “I had promised her that I would change her condition one day.”

Sujata used to help her 70-year-old mother sell grocery items to shops after her husband Ashok died. “With an income of Rs 15 to 20 a day, the family was virtually pushed to begging,” a police officer said.

On October 13, 2005, Sujata snubbed Babu when he sought Rs 5 because she could not afford to waste even that amount. Bulbuli, too, had scolded him.