Bengaluru man held for driving wife, son to suicide

Bengaluru, June 3 (IANS) A 48-year-old man was arrested here for allegedly abetting the suicide of his wife and 12-year-old son and forcing his teenaged daughter to follow suit before neighbours intervened to save her, police said on Monday.

"We arrested Suresh Babu, who runs a chit fund business and was in mounting debts, for allegedly forcing his wife Geetha Bai and son take their life on Sunday in a purported suicide pact," HAL police inspector B.N. Narasimha Murthy told IANS.

Though Babu allegedly tried to force his 17-year-old daughter also to hang herself before he killed himself, her screaming and wailing prompted their neighbours to intervene to see what was happening.

"The neighbours barged into the house and rescued the daughter. They called us to report about the incident and one of them said the daughter had recorded the episode on her mobile, showing Geetha and son hanging from the ceiling fan," Murthy said.

Babu's daughter told the police that her father had actually smothered her brother with a pillow and hanged him from the ceiling fan to die. Unable to bear the death of her son, Geetha too allegedly hanged herself.

"When Babu tried to make his daughter hang herself, she pleaded with him to spare her life and also begged him not to commit suicide," Murthy said, citing the daughter's deposition to the police.

Bengaluru's Deputy Commissioner of Police, East, Abdul Ahad has set up a team to investigate the gruesome incident and find out what forced the family to resort to a "suicide pact".

"According to preliminary investigation, Babu and Geetha were in deep debt due to heavy loss in their chit fund business. Many depositors or lenders on Saturday threatened to complain to the police if they did not return their money," added Murthy.

Police have sent the daughter to a remand home and Babu to judicial custody.

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