BHOPAL: Four members of an agrarian family, including a septuagenarian lady, her middle-aged son and two teenage grandchildren, are suspected to have died suicide under mysterious circumstances in Khurai area of Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district.
The foursome identified as Phoolrani Lodhi (70), son Manohar Lodhi (45) and Manohar’s children Shivani (18) and Aniket (16) died after consuming poisonous substance at their house built on their farmland in Tihar village in Khurai area of Sagar district on Friday-Saturday intervening night.
The shocking incident happened just three days after Manohar’s wife had gone to her parent’s home.
The incident came to light when Manohar’s elder brother Jagdish (intellectually disabled), who was present on the first floor of the house, heard sounds of coughing and vomiting from the ground floor.
When Jagdish came downstairs, he saw all four members of the family vomiting heavily. He informed the neighbours about it. While septuagenarian Phoolrani and grandson Aniket died in the house, middle-aged Manohar died on the way to the hospital, and his daughter Shivani died at the Civil Hospital.
As per primary investigations, Manohar was the youngest among four brothers and lived with his intellectually disabled elder brother Jagdish, mother Phoolrani, his wife and two children in the house built on farmland. Manohar’s two other elder brothers Nandram and Govind, lived in another house in the middle of the village.
Manohar was a well-to-do farmer owning around three acres land on which he had cultivated soybeans.
As per police sources, while no suicide note has been found, primary investigations suggest that it’s prima facie a case of suicide only. A piece of paper has been recovered in which it has been mentioned that Rs 2.45 lakh has already been paid to Mama (possibly Manohar’s uncle), three buffaloes will be given to Bua (possibly Manohar’s aunt) and the land will be distributed among Manohar’s brothers.
“Any dispute between Manohar and three other brothers, any debt burden and problems related to the two teenage children doesn’t seem to be behind the four suspected suicides. But Manohar’s wife, having left for parent’s house three days back, is under police scanner,” a key source connected to the probe disclosed to the TNIE.
Dangi said the motive behind the suicide pact is under investigation. He said Manohar Lodhi's wife had gone to her maternal home just a few days ago. Nandram Singh Lodhi said he heard his brother, Manohar, vomiting downstairs around 3 am.
After Nandram alerted his neighbour, he summoned an ambulance. However, by the time the ambulance arrived, Nandram's mother and nephew had died.
On duty doctor at Khurai civil hospital, Varsha Kesharwani, stated that four individuals had consumed Sulphas tablets. They were brought to the hospital in the wee hours.
"Two of them were brought dead," she added.
"As the girl and her father were in serious condition, they were referred to the Sagar district hospital. The girl died before she could be shifted, while her father breathed his last during transit in the ambulance," she added.
(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050, Tele Manas - 14416 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)