Ranchi: An army doctor whose family members were found dead in an apartment in Jharkhand’s Ranchi on Sunday has alleged that everyone “committed suicide because of harassment by his daughter-in-law”.
Sukanta Sarkar, a doctor based in Noida near Delhi, has told the police that his family members always carried sleeping pills because they were depressed.
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Dr. Sarkar, 63, was the only one found alive in the two-room apartment, with multiple wounds. His 60-year-old wife Anjana, son Samir, two grand-daughters Sameeta and Sumita and another daughter-in-law Maumita were all dead when the police arrived.
Several suicide notes were also found in the apartment beside syringes and medicine.
The doctor has reportedly told the police that his family members injected sleeping medicine to kill themselves, fed up of threats and harassment from his son Samir’s wife.
Dr. Sarkar claims they took the medicine the previous night and his wife and Maumita injected some into the two little girls. They all fell unconscious shortly. The police say the doctor claimed he tried to kill himself with a knife but “unfortunately that did not happen”.
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Initial inquiries say the police, suggest planned suicide. They quote the doctor as saying his family initially thought of suicide in their home in Noida but decided to travel to Ranchi and “think over it”.
The doctor claims his daughter-in-law made serious allegations and threatened them with a dowry case. He also alleges that a local NGO supported her and harassed the family.
The police say they are waiting for a post-mortem to confirm the doctor’s version.