Five members of family found dead in Bihar, suicide suspected

Police said the family head who ran a coal business had run up a debt of several lakhs of rupees which he could not repay because of financial losses due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

Five members of a family facing financial hardships allegedly died by suicide in Bihar’s Supaul district, the state police said on Saturday.

Police have sent the bodies for post mortem. (Representational Photo/Reuters)

Their bodies were found hanging from the ceiling of their house. Police said preliminary investigation suggested suicide, but no note was recovered.

Supaul’s superintendent of police (SP) Manoj Kumar said the five include a couple, aged 50 and 45, their two daughters, and a son. He added their neighbours alerted the police after they found a foul smell coming out of their house. The neighbours said the family was last seen on March 6.

Police said the family head who ran a coal business had run up a debt of several lakhs of rupees which he could not repay because of financial losses due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Police suspect all five died two to three days ago.

Kumar said the bodies have been sent for post-mortem and a probe was underway.