Six members of a family were found dead in the Bodom Bazar area of Jharkhand’s Hazaribag district on Sunday, a senior police officer said.
The incident comes weeks after the case of mass suicide in north Delhi’s Burari grabbed the nation’s attention.
Briefing media persons, North Chhotanagpur Range DIG Pankaj Kamboj said three people were found hanging in two adjacent flats, while two children - a girl and a boy - were seen lying in a pool of blood on the floor of one of the flats.
One jumped to death
A sixth person, who is suspected to have jumped from the four-storey apartment, was found dead near the main entrance of the complex, he said.
Six suicide notes were also recovered, the DIG said, adding that they were written by one person, but undersigned by each of them.
The notes cited “financial crisis” as the reason behind their deaths, Mr. Kamboj said.
“It appears the adult members of the family committed suicide one after another. However, the children, it seems, were made unconscious before their throats were slit,” he added.
Asked if there were injury marks on the bodies, Superintendent of Police Mayur Patel Kanhaiya Lall, who was also present at the press meet, said details of the exact cause of death could be ascertained only after a post-mortem.
When pointed out that the neighbours in the residential complex did not hear any screams or cries, the SP said, “We are investigating all aspects in this regard.”
The six members were identified as Mahavir Prasad Maheshwari (70), his wife Kiran Maheshwari (65), their son Naresh Prasad Maheshswari (40), daughter-in-law Priti Maheshswari (38) and two grandchildren, Aman (10) and Anath (8).
₹50-lakh debt
DIG Kamboj said initial investigations suggest that Naresh Prasad Maheshswari, a grocery shop owner, was reeling under a ₹50-lakh debt.
“We have recovered two signed cheques, an ether bottle, cotton and blades from the site of the incident,” he said.
