Family consumes poison, two die

Four members of a family allegedly consumed poison here today, following which, two of them, including a minor girl died, while two others were battling for life at a private hospital, police said.

According to police, the head of the family Vijay Hardia (38) came to know yesterday that he was suffering from cancer, following which, he and his wife decided to end their own and their children's lives.

Hardia, who was working as a manager in a hotel, told his wife Neetu (35) last night that since he was suffering from cancer, there was no point for him to go on living and told her that he would end his life by consuming some poisonous substance, police said.

Neetu insisted that she would also drink poison and end her life along with him. Later, they decided to kill their children as well, thinking that there would be nobody to look after them, police said quoting a relative of the family, they added.

However, after they consumed poison substance, Vijay and his daughter Ritika (10) died, while Neetu and her son Ritik (12) were battling for life in the hospital, police said adding further probe into the incident was on.