RANCHI: In a chilling reminder of the mass suicide by a family of 11 in North Delhi’s Burari area recently, six members of a family in Hazaribagh committed suicide on Sunday.
Three generations of the family, including the grandparents, their son, his wife and two grandchildren, allegedly committed suicide due to financial pressure brought on by the prolonged illness of the only earning member of the family, business woes and Rs 50 lakh in debts.
Police said the deceased include Naresh Agrawal (40), his father Mahavir (70), mother Kiran (65), wife Priti (38), daughter Anvi (6) and son Aman (8).
"Prima facie it appears to be a case of suicide but investigations are on," said Hazaribagh SP Mayur Patel Kanhaiya Lal.
According to police, Naresh jumped from his third floor flat after ensuring that everyone in the family was dead.
"Four suicide notes signed by the deceased have been found in the third floor flat of CDM Apartment block near Khajanchi Pond, where the elderly couple hanged themselves, while Priti supposedly was strangulated to death and her husband died after jumping from his balcony," said Hazaribagh Sadar DSP Chandan Vats.
While the minor daughter Anvi was given poison, the boy Aman’s throat was slit with a sharp weapon, he added.
Police recovered a suicide note from the house written in red ink on a brown envelop. A macabre formula, disease + shop closed + debt + bad name + loan = tension = death, was also written on the envelop.
"It is written in the suicide note that since Aman could not be hanged, they had to kill him," said the DSP. As per the suicide note, the family could not bear the pressure brought on by the prolonged illness of the only earning member of the family Naresh, which further lead to enormous debts on them, he said.
The DSP said that a power of attorney was also found in the envelop stating that the two flats owned by the family could be sold out to pay the debts.
The bodies of Kiran and Priti were found in one room, while the body of Mahavir and his grandson Aman were found in another room. Anvi’s body was found on the sofa in the balcony and Naresh himself was found dead on the ground floor of the apartment complex.
The family had a business of dry fruits but due to Naresh’s illness the shop remained closed for months leading to the financial crisis.