Six of family consume poison, four dead

LUCKNOW - A poverty-stricken family of six, including four children, consumed poison in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district. While four died, two are battling for life, police said Saturday.

Subhash Kumar, a 43-year-old who lost his job at a scooter repairing shop, consumed poison along with his wife and four children - aged between seven and 14 years - late Friday at their house in Piyarwa Pokhra village, some 300 km from Lucknow.

“Preliminary investigations indicate that poverty drove the family to consume poison. It was Subhash who made his wife and four children consume the poison,” police inspector Deepak Dubey told reporters in Mirzapur.

Subhash’s wife Seema, 39, and his two daughters - Punni Devi, 9, Rani, 14, - and son Rajesh, 12, died on the spot. Subhash and his seven-year-old daughter Mona are battling for life, he said.

The incident came to light Friday night when some residents of Piyarwa Pokhra village went to meet Kumar at his house and found the six family members lying in an unconscious state.

“The locals later informed us, but by the time we could reach there the two children and their mother died. Doctors attending to Subhash and his daughter say their condition is serious,” said Dubey.

Kumar was finding it difficult to take care of his family for the last several weeks after losing his job.