Bandra family’s note blames financial stress for suicide

Four members of a family were found dead in their Bandra (East) residence on Saturday in a case of suspected group suicide.

The deceased have been identified as Rajesh Bhingare ,45, Ashwini Bhingare, 42, and their two sons Tushar, 23, and Gaurang ,19. The Mumbai Police suspect the family committed suicide by consuming poison that was mixed in a drink. Rajesh’s throat and wrists were slit.

The police said a suicide note has been found which says that the family was taking this extreme step because Rajesh had slipped into depression owing to financial stress. “We have found a suicide note in Marathi and we are investigating the content of it,” said a police officer.

The police said the deaths had probably taken place on Friday night as neighbours don’t recall seeing the Bhingares on Saturday. “A neighbour in the building went to the [Bhingare] residence for some work [on Saturday] and knocked on the door. After repeated attempts, when no response was received, other residents of the building forced the door open and found the family dead,” said an officer.

The police reached the spot on Saturday afternoon and the bodies were sent to Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in Sion, where the four were declared dead. Rajesh worked as a peon in a government office and Tushar, who had completed a course in hotel management, was an intern in a pub in the city. The younger son was a student. A friend who had met Tushar on Friday night told HT that Tushar had plans of studying abroad. “We met last night at around 9:30pm when he said he wants to go to Canada to study further. It was shocking for all of us to know they were all dead today,” he said.

A post-mortem report of the four deaths is awaited and an Accidental Death Report (ADR) has been registered by Kherwadi police.