``We are ending our lives on our own and none should be held responsible for our death,'' they wrote in their suicide note.

Poonam was only 22, Upasana 20, and Vandana 18. Their father, Ram Dulare Shukla, a teacher in the Government Junior High School, is barely able to make both ends meet. He is now left with two daughters, both of whom are married; one son, also married, and a stepson and daughter.

``I was not getting my salary for the last four months. And before that, I was only getting a meagre amount because a large part of it went to clear my loans,'' says Ram Dulare.

Like the family, residents of Ahiran Tola in Beniganj are in a state of shock. ``They were the nicest of girls. Very responsible, they were even helping theirfather by earning money through tuitions and sewing neighbours' clothes. We could never have imagined that poverty would force them to take such an extreme step,'' says the Shuklas' neighbour Ram Vilas.

``In fact, I realise now that Poonam had only finished teaching my four-year-old son half-an-hour before they all drank the poison on Thursday,'' he adds.

Having passed the Intermediate in 1996 with 74 per cent marks, Poonam always wanted to go in for higher studies, he recollects. But she could not join a degree college because the family could not afford it.

No one knows for sure if there was any immediate provocation for the Shukla sisters to take the extreme step. But some neighbours allude to a family problem centering around their stepmother. They said the sisters did not get along with her, and had come to know that she had convinced Ram Dulare not to spend any money on their education.

``This was why they had taken to tuitions and sewing clothes,'' a neighbour points out.

But their fatherRam Dulare vehemently denies any family problem.``Why should they complain against their step mother after 16 years of my marriage to her. In fact, my second wife was like a mother to them. It is true that for the last four months I was not in a position to give them money to spend. That was because my salary was blocked. But before that I made it a point to ensure that they did not suffer due to my limited income,'' says Ram Dulare.