Five members of a family allegedly died by suicide at a high-rise society in the Indirapuram area of Ghaziabad on Tuesday morning.
"Gulshan Vasudev (45), owner of a jeans factory, jumped from the balcony of his flat on the eighth floor of Krishna Appra Saphhire Society at around 5.30 a.m., along with his wife Parveen (40) and business partner Sanjana (35),” police said.
When the police broke open the door of the flat, they found the bodies of two children — Hrithik (15) and Hrithika (13) — on the bed, Superintendent of Police (City) Manish Mishra said. Their pet rabbit was also found dead. While Gulshan and Parveen died on the spot, Sanjana died during treatment at a private hospital.
“ Prima facie , it seems like a case of suicide. The two children were possibly killed before the elders ended their lives. The note written on the wall of the room said they were ending their lives because of their poor financial condition. In the note, Gulshan has named his close relative Rakesh Verma for cheating him in business and held him responsible for pushing them to take the extreme step,” said Mr. Mishra. Some bounced cheques and injections were recovered from the flat.
Local sources said Gulshan’s business had run into loss after he was allegedly duped of ₹2 crore by Mr. Verma, his brother-in-law. Sanjana used to live in the same flat. Police sources said Mr. Verma also spent some time in jail because of a complaint filed by Gulshan, but could not settle the financial matter.
“A police team has been formed to locate Mr. Verma. Necessary action will be taken after investigating his role in the case,” said Mr Mishra.
Suicide prevention helpline: Sanjivini, Society for Mental Health; 011-4076 9002 (Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. -7.30 p.m.)
