Photo used for illustrative purpose.

Gulf Today Report

In a shocking news, six members of a same family in India committed suicide on Monday, local police said.

Police suspect that the family was depended on agriculture and the investigations revealed that they were debt-ridden and private money lenders were harassing and threatening them.

Shockwave spread across Shahapur of Yadgir district, Karnataka, where six members belonging to a family committed suicide by jumping into an open farm pond on Monday afternoon.

Shahapur taluka is around 550-km from Bengaluru, and is part of one of the most backward districts of the state, where migration of labourers is quite often reported.

According to the police the deceased were identified as Bhimaraya Surapura, 45 and Shantamma, 36, while their children were — Sumitra, 13, Sridevi 12, Shivaraj, 9 and Lakshmi, 8.

"This incident appears to be a suicide pact between family as the couple seem to have pushed their kids into this pond and then jumped into it. We have fished out their bodies with the help of the district fire department's team of divers," explained the police.

"We are still ascertaining the veracity of allegations levelled by residents of Doranahalli village, who had accused that private financiers were harassing this family," said the police.

The police have registered a case and are investigating.