Jharkhand: Two brothers hang themselves after killing five others in family

This is the second such incident in Jharkhand within a fortnight after Naresh Agrawal of Hazaribagh jumped from the rooftop after killing five members in his family.
Police officers at the house where seven of a family were found dead| PTI
Police officers at the house where seven of a family were found dead| PTI

RANCHI: In yet another incident of mass suicide in Ranchi, two brothers hanged themselves after killing other five members, including two children, in the family allegedly due to financial crisis emerged out of the illness of the 18-month-old son Jangu who was undergoing treatment since he was born.

Police has recovered a 15-page suicide note which mentions about the economic problems and financial crisis being faced by the family, besides loans taken from various sources in the market. The family includes Deepak Jha who worked in a private company, his old age father Sacchinand Jha, mother Gayatri Devi, wife Soni Devi, daughter Drishti, son Jangu and his brother Rupesh Jha. The incident took place on Sunday night at Arsande under Kanke Police Station in Ranchi.

Notably, six members of a family in Hazaribagh had also committed suicide on July 15 leaving suicide notes stating that they had to take such a harsh step after the family could not bear the pressure brought by the prolonged illness of the only earning member of the family, which further lead to enormous debts on them. Though the reasons of suicide are yet to be ascertained, it is believed that that the family committed suicide after they could not bear the pressure of prolonged financial crisis.

"Prima facie it appears to be a case of suicide where the two brothers Deepak and Rupesh first killed other family members by strangulating them, and hanged themselves out of financial crisis, emerged out of prolonged illness of the youngest member of the family, who was undergoing treatment in a hospital in Ranchi," said DIG (Ranchi Range) AV Homkar.

A special team of State Police, CID and FSL, headed by SSP Ranchi, has been roped in to get into the details of the case, he added. "Today a joint inspection of the place of occurrence was done and all the physical evidences were collected on the basis of which investigation will be done taking all aspects into consideration," said the DIG.

A 15-page suicide note has also been recovered from the place which explains economic problems being faced by the family, besides a financial misappropriation done in the company they were working in, and they were apprehending that their names might also come into it, he added.

"It has also been mentioned in the suicide note that they were not been able to pay school fee of the child and the payment of the milkman who used to supply milk or the grocery bill forcing them to take such a harsh step," said the DIG.

Two brothers were found hanging while the other five members of the family were lying dead on the bed when police entered the house, which was kept open from inside. The family hailed from Bhagalpur in Bihar and was living on a rented accommodation. The elderly father was a retired railway employee who was living with his two sons. Deepak and Rupesh have a sister Sandhay, who was ousted by the family after she married to a man of another cast and has been living separately with her husband.

The incident came to light when the driver of the school van sounded the horn to take the girl child to school but no one responded from inside. The landlord also confirmed that the family was debt-ridden who had not even given the house rent for the last few months after more than Rs 20 lakh was spent in the treatment of the youngest son Jangu.

Chief Minister Raghubar Das, expressing his condolences over the alleged mass suicide, has ordered Ranchi SSP to look into the matter and unveil the truth as soon as possible.

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