In a shocking incident in Gujarat’s Surat, seven members of a family were found dead inside their house on Saturday, in a suspected case of deaths by suicide.

The police said the deceased were found in their apartment in the Adajan locality. They found an alleged suicide note saying they were dying by suicide due to financial distress. While six people, including three children, consumed poisonous substances, one was found hanging.

Those found dead include a couple, their six-year-old son and two minor daughters and the man’s parents.

“A man, his wife, his parents, the couple’s six-year-old son and two daughters aged 10 and 13 were found dead at their residence in Siddheshwar Apartment in Surat this afternoon. We are trying to ascertain the exact cause of their death,” DCP (Zone-5) R P Barot said.

The man has been identified as 37-year-old Manish Solanki who worked as a contractor. His body was found hanging. The bodies of the remaining six people were found on the bed and floor of the house.

As per the note recovered from the house, the family took the extreme step out of financial distress caused after being unable to recover money lent to someone, Barot said, PTI reported.

Surat Mayor Niranjan Zanzmera said, “It appears that Solanki made his family members consume poison before hanging himself. The bodies are being sent for post-mortem.”

The Indian Express reported some people had borrowed money from him but failed to pay him back. A native of Amreli district, Manish owned four flats in the same building.

With inputs from PTI

Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).