Six members of a family, including two children, allegedly committed suicide by consuming a soft drink laced with pesticide at their house in Mamillagadda village near Suryapet town, the police said.
The police suspect loans taken by the eldest son of the family to be the reason for the suicide pact. The family of Kasthuri Janardhan, a BSNL employee, took the extreme step as they had encountered pressure from moneylenders to repay the loans, police said.
The milkman, who saw all the family members lying down in the hall early in the morning, alerted the police. The victims were identified as Janardhan (55), Chandrakala (50), his wife, Ashok (25), his second son, Prabhata (30), daughter-in-law, and her children Sirisha (5) and Ruthvika (2).
“Our enquiries revealed that eldest son Suresh, who owned a computer sales and service store, invested heavily in online trading of stocks and sustained loss running into several crores. The second son was also duped by an agency that had promised him a job after taking ₹14 lakh,” Circle Inspector Mogilaiah said.
According to sources, the debts ran into more than ₹10 crore. “Daily visits and demands by creditors subjected the family to mental stress,” police said. Suresh was not with the family, and it was learnt that he had been on the run from moneylenders since September 11. His cell phone was switched off, Mr. Mogilaiah said.