After Panchkula, tragedy in Kerala: Four of family die by suicide over 'mounting debt'

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In a chilling echo of the Panchkula mass suicide, a family of four was found dead at their home in Vakkom, Kerala, on Tuesday morning.

The deceased were identified as Anil Kumar (55), a senior clerk at Vakkom Service Cooperative Bank; his wife Sheeja (50), a daily-wage worker at the Kerala legislative assembly; and their two sons — Ashwin (25), a commerce graduate seeking employment and Akash (22), an engineering student. According to a TOI report, police confirmed that all four were found hanging using saris in different rooms of their home.

Local authorities suspect a suicide pact, though no suicide note has been recovered. A preliminary investigation suggests the family was overwhelmed by mounting financial liabilities. Vakkom ward member Santhamma S was quoted by TOI as saying that the family had borrowed heavily to renovate their house and their economic troubles were compounded in 2019 after Ashwin met with a serious accident, leading to a six-month hospital stay and further medical bills.

Santhamma said Sheeja confided in neighbours about their growing debt and added that the mother had visibly struggled to make ends meet through her daily-wage job.

The tragedy was discovered on Tuesday morning after concerned neighbours noticed the family had not been seen outside and entered the house. Neighbours last saw the family around 5 pm on Monday, as per TOI.

Thiruvananthapuram police officials told Hindustan Times that while further investigation is ongoing, early evidence points towards financial despair as the likely trigger.

This grim episode comes barely 24 hours after a similar case shocked Panchkula in Haryana, where seven members of a Dehradun-based family - including three children - were found dead inside a car in Sector 27 on Monday night. They had travelled to attend a spiritual programme by Baba Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham before allegedly taking their lives.

A two-page handwritten suicide note recovered from the vehicle, purportedly penned by the family's patriarch, stated that the family was heavily in debt and that he alone was responsible for their situation. “Please don’t trouble my father-in-law. My maternal uncle’s son will perform all the last rites,” the note reportedly read. While six of the victims were declared dead on arrival, the seventh - the head of the family - died later in hospital.