By Express News Service

KOPPAL: Six members of a family were found dead in their house in Metagal village on Saturday. Police suspect that the farmer poisoned his wife and four daughters before hanging himself. The deceased are farmer Shekharayya Bidanal (42), his wife Jayamma (39) and daughters Basamma (23), Gouramma (20), Savitri (18) and Parvati (16).

The incident came to light when police broke into the house on Saturday morning after neighbours informed them. A death note was recovered from Bidanal’s pocket, in which he had mentioned about the loans he had taken for the marriage of his daughters and to cultivate the land he shared with his brothers.

Based on the death note and a complaint filed by a relative, police have detained three people. “Prima facie it appears that the rest of the family was unaware of the farmer mixing poison in the dinner,” a police officer said, adding that food samples have been sent to labs for tests.

While Basamma and Gouramma are married, Savitri’s marriage was fixed recently. It is said that Gouramma was pregnant. Shekharayya Bidanal’s two married daughters were reportedly going through a difficult time as their in-laws were demanding money, gold and silver. Also, Bidanal’s brothers were not ready to part with the farmland, which was bothering him. Apart from borrowing farm loans to the tune of Rs 6 lakh, Bidanal is said to have taken a loan from moneylenders for the marriage of his daughters.

“There are no eyewitnesses and we cannot judge the sequence of death. But prima facie it appears that the family members were not aware of the poison mixed in their food. It is possible that Bidanal could have mixed poison in the dinner ... after confirming their deaths, he could have hanged himself. A complaint has been registered against the relatives of Bidanal and in-laws of his daughters,” said an officer. After autopsies, the six were laid to rest at Bidanal’s farm in the evening.

Agriculture Minister NH Shivashankara Reddy, who was in Koppal on a private visit, rushed to the village after being informed of the incident. Reddy, Deputy Commissioner P Sunilkumar and SP Renuka Sukumar visited the family. Calling the incident “the most unfortunate”, Reddy said, “The government will explore all possible ways to help the family’s relatives.”