Two brothers and their four children were found hanging in a flat in Vatva police station area in Ahmedabad early Friday morning.
Police suspect that it is a case of a suicide pact in which the brothers first killed the children and then hanged themselves. The police have registered the case as an accidental death but said it is too early to arrive at any conclusion.
Police said that Gaurang Patel, 42, Amrish Patel, 40, were found hanging in the hall, two boys in the bedroom and two girls were found in the kitchen. The brothers had a daughter and a son each.
The one BHK flat was bought by Gaurang but left it some six months ago after he was not able to pay the home loan. Outside the flat, there were bank notices posted on the wall stating that the owner of the flat owed Rs 7.87 lakh bank loan.
The brothers left home on June 17 with their children promising their wives to come back soon. When they didn’t return till late at night, the family started looking. On June 18, they decided to check the mortgaged flat at Shree Prayosha Residency apartment.
"The family found the car and a bike belonging to the brothers parked outside the apartment. The flat was locked from inside and they called fire brigade team which broke open the door. The police found the bodies hanging in the hall, bedroom and kitchen. We have also found four cups which have traces of some liquid which might contain some sedative that they would have used on the children before hanging them. These all primary details but we can't say anything conclusively. We have registered the case as accidental death," said Deputy Commissioner of Police Bipin Ahire.
Another police officer told DH that "It looks like a suicide pact between the brothers but we don't know why they left their wives. We have information suggesting that the brothers were very close to each other. Their car and motorcycle had same numbers. One of the brothers Amrish was a cab driver but was out of job due to lockdown. A week back, Gaurang, who worked in a textile company, had provided a job to Amrish in the textile company."
He added that "more than monetary problem, we believe that there could be some social issues which might have led the brothers to end their lives. If money was the issue, we wonder why would they leave their wives behind. It is a strange case." Police said that mother of Patel brothers had passed away about a one-and-a-half ago while their father died some ten years back.