Couple struggling to pay off debts and their child found hanging at Kasba home
Telegraph | 5 March 2025
A couple struggling to pay off their debts and their little child were found hanging at their Kasba home on Tuesday morning, police said.
Preliminary police inquiry suggests that they killed their two-and-a-half-year-old son and hanged themselves. The father was found hanging with his dead son in a sling around his neck.
The police said the family had taken a few lakhs in loan and was under pressure to return it. Investigators said they found two scribblings on two walls of the house in Haltu Purbapally.
“One has the mention of some relatives who were disturbing the family over a land-related dispute and the other has the names of a few creditors who had allegedly threatened to kidnap the child if they did not repay the loan at the earliest,” said an officer of Kasba police station.
Police sources said Somnath Roy, 40, who owned an autorickshaw, had taken a loan of ₹4-5 lakh for the treatment of his son Rudranil. He was finding it difficult to repay the amount, the police said.
Recently, in Tangra, three surviving members of a family of six claimed that all of them had attempted suicide but only the women in the family died. Failing finances is a suspected reason for their drastic decision.
Investigators probing the Kasba deaths said Somnath earlier owned two autos. One had to be sold to pay for the child’s medical expenses.
“At present, he had one auto. He had engaged a driver to drive it,” said an officer.
On Tuesday morning, Somnath and his wife Sumitra, 35, were found hanging. The police suspect the child was killed before the couple committed suicide.
Family members of Sumitra have told the police that Somnath’s maternal uncle, his wife and maternal aunt were allegedly pressuring the family to share the property where the Roys lived.
The police said the names of these relatives were scribbled on one of the walls. “The note on the wall said the couple had driven the family to their death for a petty issue related to property,” said an officer.
The other “note” on another wall mentioned the names of three creditors who were allegedly threatening to kidnap the child if their dues were not cleared, the police said.
The bodies will undergo post-mortem on Wednesday. A forensic team went to the spot on Tuesday to examine the place and collect samples.
The police detained three of the relatives for questioning.
Later in evening, Somnath’s maternal uncle Pradip Kumar Ghoshal and his wife Nilima Ghoshal were arrested and charged with abetment to suicide, property-related cheating and criminal breach of trust based on a complaint by Sumitra’s sister Suparna Bhowmik.
Another case of murder has been registered based on a complaint by Sumitra’s father Biswanath Bhowmik against unknown persons.