9 family members found dead; 15 arrested for abetting suicide
What's the story
The police have arrested 15 persons in connection with the suspected mass suicide of a family, which stunned the residents of Maharashtra's Sangli district.
Nine members of the same family were found dead on Monday in the district's Mhaisal village and a case of abetting suicide was filed against 25 people.
Officials said moneylenders are among those arrested, reported Hindustan Times.
Action
All 25 booked for abetment to suicide, harassment
According to officials, about 25 persons, including money lenders, were booked in connection with the case on Monday evening.
They have been booked for abetment to suicide and allegedly harassing the involved family over repayment of loans.
As per reports, the police have also invoked the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the accused persons.
Investigation
What did initial investigation reveal?
The police told HT that a preliminary investigation based on the suicide notes revealed that the family had roughly Rs. 1 crore in debt and was under constant pressure from lenders.
The deceased were all part of the same family that included two brothers (aged 56 and 49), their mother (72), their wives (aged 45 and 48), and their four children.
Officials
How did officials describe the case?
"The family was finding it difficult to repay the money taken from various people, which was also mentioned in the suicide notes. Due to sustained humiliation after the family failed to repay loans, they took the extreme step," Sangli SP Dikshit Gedam said.
According to him, the preliminary investigation also indicates that the deceased had borrowed the money for business purposes.
Details
More arrests expected soon: Police
As per the police, all those arrested belong to the Mhaisal village and most of them are private money lenders illegally operating in the Sangli-Kolhapur belt.
The police said more arrests are expected soon as they have formed seven teams to nab the remaining suspects.
They said some of the accused were also booked several times in the past for private money lending cases.
Shocking incident
Incident shocked the entire village of just 15,000 people
On Monday, the nine members of the family were discovered dead in the small village of Mhaisal.
Six family members were found dead at the residence of the younger brother, while the remaining three were found dead in another property held by the elder brother.
The incident shocked everyone in Mhaisal—which has a population of just 15,000—and threw down a new challenge for authorities.