Goa Crime Branch begins probe into triple suicide of Bagalkot family

Days after three members of a family hailing from Bagalkot in Karnataka allegedly committed suicide at their rented home in the Zuarinagar slum near Vasco town in South Goa, the Crime Branch of the Goa Police has now started probing the case.

The three deceased, namely Hulgappa Ambigera (35) his wife Devamma (28) and his brother Gangappa (29) all committed suicide, shortly after they came back home from the Verna police station, where they had been summoned in connection with a theft case filed against Devamma. The complaint was filed against Devamma by a person at whose house she worked as a maid.

"We have started investigating the case. All persons linked to it, including police officials, will be summoned for questioning," a senior Crime Branch official said on Saturday. The local sub-divisional magistrate has already started a probe into the deaths.

While human rights organisations have accused the Goa Police of harassing the trio, police however claim that a suicide note left behind by the deceased states that they owe money to extended family members in Bagalkot, who were, in turn, harassing them.

The Crime Branch probe follows a demand by an NGO backed by the Goa Church, Council for Social Justice and Peace to appoint an independent enquiry into the deaths and suspension of police officials who are linked to the theft case, in which the trio was summoned to the Verna police station.