Family of seven consumes poison

A 46-year-old unemployed man allegedly tried to kill himself, his wife and five daughters by consuming poison on Wednesday afternoon in the Tri Nagar area of northwest Delhi.

A 46-year-old unemployed man allegedly tried to kill himself, his wife and five daughters by consuming poison on Wednesday afternoon in the Tri Nagar area of northwest Delhi.

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The two eldest daughters were reportedly privy to the suicide pact and “wanted to help their parents by ending their lives”. They were school toppers and one of them had an examination on Wednesday.

Satish Jain, a hawker, allegedly consumed poison-laced soft drink and sweets and also fed them to his wife and daughters. He wrote two suicide notes: one addressed to the area station house officer and the other to his elder brother.

While Jain was in a critical condition at Mahavir Jain Hospital on Wednesday night, his wife Sarita and daughters Priyanka, Priya, Ritu, Sakshi and Kareena (aged 6-16 years) were declared out of danger.

The family was said to be extremely poor. “My father does not work. My mother is a tailor. We consumed some cold drink and sweets on Wednesday afternoon and fell unconscious. We had not eaten anything the whole of Tuesday,” said Ritu Jain (8), recuperating at the hospital.

“Priyanka (16), the eldest girl, told us she was aware of the poison in the drink,” said Mithilesh Goel, Ritu’s maternal uncle.

Priyanka had an exam on Wednesday and when she did not show up, her friend Renuka came looking for her in the afternoon, leading to the discovery of the by then unconscious family.