BANKA INCIDENT
Bhagalpur: Five members of a family, struggling with abject poverty and a debt burden of approximately Rs 20 lakh, consumed poison in a village under Amarpur police station in Banka district during the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. While three family members died, two children are in critical condition at a hospital.
According to police, the deceased included 40-year-old Kanhaiya Mahato, his 35-year-old wife Gita Devi and their 12-year-old son Dhiraj Mahato. Their 16-year-old daughter Sarita Mahato and 8-year-old son Rakesh Mahato were rushed to the hospital in a precarious condition early on Saturday morning.
Banka superintendent of police Dr Satya Prakash said the surviving children were initially treated at Amarpur hospital before being referred to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Bhagalpur for better care. “Both Sarita and Rakesh are in critical condition,” he said.
A police investigation team has been formed to probe allegations made by relatives and neighbours that private financers and committee members coerced the family into repaying loans. “If evidence confirms undue coercion, appropriate legal action will be taken,” the SP said.
According to local sources, Kanhaiya had taken loans from 16-17 people through a ‘committee funding network’, a common informal lending system in rural and suburban areas, as well as from two-three private financers. The family’s total debt had reportedly escalated to around Rs 20 lakh. The loan providers and committee members had been pressuring the family to repay the amount even as the family struggled in abject poverty.
Kanhaiya had been running a battery-operated three-wheeler purchased on instalments from private financers to support his family. He had also taken loans ranging from Rs 35,000 to Rs 80,000 to construct a house and start a small eatery. Despite his efforts, the mounting debts pushed the family into financial distress, according to sources, ultimately leading them to take the drastic step.
Veena Devi, Kanhaiya’s elder sister-in-law, alleged that the family was under immense pressure from loan providers. She claimed the lenders had threatened to seize Kanhaiya’s three-wheeler if he failed to repay the loans.
Meanwhile, the Banka police are working to record the statement of the elder daughter, Sarita Mahato, to shed light on the sequence of events leading to this incident.