A very sad incident happened in Haryana's Panchkula on Sunday. Seven members of a family from Dehradun died by suicide after consuming poison. The family was found inside a car parked outside a house in Sector 27.

According to sources, the family took this extreme step because they were under heavy financial debt and pressure. The head of the family, 42-year-old Praveen Mittal, had come to Panchkula with his family to attend a spiritual programme at Bageshwar Dham. They were returning to Dehradun when the incident took place.

Local residents noticed something wrong when they saw the family struggling inside the car. They immediately tried to help and called the police.

An eyewitness named Puneet shared what he saw. “The incident happened near our house. Someone told us that a car was parked outside with a towel on it. When we asked, they told us they had come for Baba’s programme and couldn’t find a hotel. So they were sleeping in the car. We told them to move the car and park it elsewhere. After that, we noticed that they had vomited on each other. We pulled him out of the car,” Puneet told reporters.

Puneet also said that only one person was breathing when they reached. The others appeared to be unconscious. While pulling the man out, Puneet heard his last words: “He said that he would also die in five minutes as he had consumed poison. We are drowning in debt.”

Puneet said that the police arrived quickly, but the ambulance came 45 minutes late. Unfortunately, the family members were declared dead when they reached the hospital.

The people who died include Praveen Mittal, his parents, his wife, and his three children—two daughters and a son.

Police officials confirmed that a suicide note was found at the site. Senior officer Himadri Kaushik said, “Upon initial probe, it seemed like a case of suicide. The forensic team has reached the spot. We will collect all the evidence from the crime scene and analyse it scientifically.”

The bodies have been sent to a private hospital in Panchkula for post-mortem examination.

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