Tragedy in Chamarajanagar village; victims include two teenaged girls 

Chamarajanagar: In a heart-rending incident, a family of four including two teenaged girls entered into a suicide pact at a village near Chamarajanagar. The reason for the family to take this extreme step is not, however, known. 

The incident came to light this morning at H. Mookahalli in Chamarajanagar Taluk where farmer Mahadevappa (47), his wife Mangalamma (40) and children Jyothi (14) and Shruthi (12) were found hanging in the hall of their small house. 

A co-farmer of the village had come to Mahadevappa’s house this morning to invite him to purchase sugarcane stocks from the market. Though he knocked the door a couple of times and called Mahadevappa over phone there was no response, nor did he hear any sound from inside. 

The person then used a ladder to climb on the house to remove the tiles. The bodies of all the four were found hanging from the ceiling. The villager then alerted the neighbours and also the Police. Neighbours said that Mahadevappa had three daughters and the elder one is married. 

The family is suspected to have entered into the suicide pact late last night as one Kumar had called Mahadevappa at 9 pm yesterday. Kumar, a fellow villager told the Police that when he spoke with Mahadevappa he did not sound depressed nor did he mention about any problems.

Mahadevappa had recently contracted COVID-19 and he was in home isolation, Kumar told the Police. It was Kumar who helped Mahadevappa to get admitted into a hospital. Neighbours said that Mahadevappa owned one-and-a-half acres of land that was purely dependent on monsoon. 

It is suspected that Mahadevappa had borrowed loans and inability to pay off the debts could have driven him and family to take the extreme step. Chamarajanagar East Police have registered a case.