Hit by lockdown, four of family commit suicide

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, October 17

A man and his wife, along with their two children, ended their lives by allegedly setting themselves on fire in Kaler village of Faridkot district today.

In a three-page suicide note, 45-year-old Dharampal, an accountant at a brick-kiln, blamed the Covid-induced lockdown for his economic hardships, which forced the family members to end their lives.

The charred bodies of Dharampal, his wife Seema (35), daughter Monica (15) and son Hitesh (11) were found in a room of their house this morning. In the note, Dharampal listed details of a Rs 9 lakh debt he had incurred, besides Rs 6.5 lakh that he had given out as loan to others.

The victim belonged to Sikar district of Rajasthan and had been working at brick-kilns in the area for the past 10 years.

Minutes before Dharampal allegedly ended his life, he sent a text message to some of his colleagues informing them that they were about to take the extreme step.

“The message was received on my phone at 4 am, but I read it around 6 am. I, along with some colleagues, rushed to Dharampal’s house and saw smoke billowing from a room,” said Suresh Kumar, his colleague.

“We informed the panchayat and the door was broken. All four members of the family were found dead,” he said. “The relatives of the deceased have been informed in Rajasthan. The deceased has blamed the Covid pandemic for economic hardships that forced them to end their lives,” said Satwinder Singh, DSP, Faridkot.