Newly weded couple found dead in hotel room

A British couple holidaying in India has been found dead. Surrounded by sleeping pills, anti-depressants and empty bottles of cough syrup, their bodies were discovered in their hotel room.

Police say James and Alex Gaskell – both teachers with first-class degrees – died of an overdose in their locked room near the Taj Mahal. A guide book, travel bag, mobile phone and other holiday paraphernalia was found on their bed.

The couple, who are believed to have previously lived in Fallowfield, near Manchester, married last November and had been travelling across India for around three months.


The shocking scene is a stark contrast to the happy image that Mrs. Gaskell, 24, had posted a few days earlier of the couple smiling in front of a temple in Delhi. Her 27-year-old husband had posted a series of messages on Twitter outlining his casual attitude to drugs. His final tweet, on Sunday, two days before their bodies were found, said how easy they were to obtain in India.

India is a popular destination for drugs tourists keen to acquire powerful prescription medicines from chemists, with few questions asked. It is unclear whether the couple died from an overdose of prescription drugs or from another substance.

A member of staff discovered their bodies after noticing they had not checked out.

Police superintendent Shalabh Mathur is reported to have told local media: “It appears the two were dead [on] Monday night itself, as the food they had ordered had not been eaten.”

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We can confirm the deaths of two British nationals in Agra and we are providing consular assistance to their families at this difficult time.”