The car was parked in a residential area in Panchkula’s Sector 27 and was spotted by a passerby late last night. Police identified one of the deceased as Praveen Mittal, 41, the others as his wife, the couple’s three minor children, two of them girls, and his parents.
Six members of a family died inside a car parked in Haryana’s Panchkula, while one more died on way to a hospital, police said on Tuesday. Giving details, Panchkula Deputy Commissioner of Police Himadri Kaushik, said, “Prima facie, it appears to be a matter of suicide. However, further investigations are on.”
The car was parked in a residential area in Panchkula’s Sector 27 and was spotted by a passerby late last night.
Police identified one of the deceased as Praveen Mittal, 41, the others as his wife, the couple’s three minor children, two of them girls, and his parents.
A local youth said he was out for a walk last night when he spotted the Dehradun-registered car parked on a road with a towel hanging out from one of its doors.
He went close and found six people in the car motionless, lying on each other with vomit on them.
The seventh he found breathing with difficulty, yet managed to tell him that his family was under huge debt and that he was going to die. The man raised an alarm and all seven were rushed to a hospital, police said.
Why the family died by suicide
Police have recovered a two-page suicide note from the vehicle, which stated the reason behind the family’s suicide. The family in the note has written that they were taking the extreme step because they had gone bankrupt due to debt. In the note, they also wrote that everything that had happened was their fault and urged everyone to not trouble their father-in-law. The man of the family further wrote that all last rites and rituals will be performed by his maternal uncle’s son.
What happened actually?
The whole family on Monday night went to attend a spiritual event by Bageshwar Dham’s Baba Dhirendra Shastri in Panchkula. However, without returning home after the event, they parked their Hyundai Aura car in the city’s Sector 27 area and six of the family members died by suicide.
After people on the road noticed the car and several people inside it, they approached the only man who was still conscious sitting in the driver’s seat. He told them that the family was under overwhelming debt due to which, they had taken this extreme step. Others found him trembling and in a critical state, following which they contacted police.
What police said about suicide case
Kaushik said six people were taken to a private hospital, while one was taken to the civil hospital. However, “all seven died,” she said.
“At the moment, we are investigating the case from all angles. We are questioning the people in the area and going through the CCTV footage,” DCP (Crime), Panchkula, Haryana, Amit Dahiya said.
A relative of the deceased told reporters that the family originally lived in Panchkula and had returned to the city recently after living in Dehradun for a few years.
