Debt-ridden man kills wife, four daughters; attempts suicide

LUCKNOW - A debt-ridden labourer attempted suicide after killing his wife and four daughters by setting them ablaze in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur district, police said Friday.

Ramanand (35), a resident of Dhaurara town in Lakhimpur, around 200 km from here, allegedly set ablaze his wife Sangeeta and four daughters, aged between two months and 8 years, late Thursday.

“We came to know about the incident today (Friday) when Ramanand’s neighbours approached us after they found five charred bodies at his home,” inspector Yogendra Singh told reporters in Lakhimpur.

“The injury marks on Ramanand’s body indicate that he too tried to end his life. When we reached the spot, he was found lying in an unconscious state in a corner of the house. He is being treated at a government hospital,” he added.

The neighbours told the police that Ramanand, who had apparently lost his job, had taken loans from a number of moneylenders in the town but was unable to repay them.