Ahmedabad, March 27 Three members of a family have been found dead at their residence in Umargram in Gujarat's Valsad district, an official said on Thursday, adding the deceased also includes a two-year-old child.
Police launched a thorough investigation into the incident, which is suspected to be a case of suicide, an official said.
The incident took place on the third floor of Neelkanth Apartment in the outskirts of Umargam, where 28-year-old Shivam Vishwakarma, his wife Aarti Vishwakarma, and their two-year-old child were found dead.
When their apartment door remained shut for an unusually long time in the morning, neighbors grew suspicious.
They knocked on the door and called out, but received no response. Concerned, they informed the police. Upon arrival, the police forced open the door and were met with a horrifying sight -- Shivam Vishwakarma was found hanging from the ceiling, while the lifeless bodies of his wife and child lay inside the house.
Initial police investigations indicate that Shivam Vishwakarma was originally from Jhansi and was working in a private company in Umargam.
According to neighbours, he was a calm and friendly individual with a good rapport with those around him. However, in recent months, he was under immense stress due to massive financial losses in Forex trading (foreign exchange investments).
A close friend of the deceased revealed that Shivam had invested heavily in Forex markets, but recent downturns in the global financial sector resulted in severe losses.
Police suspect that mounting debts and economic hardship pushed the family to take this extreme step.
Senior officers from the Valsad police and Umargam police departments rushed to the scene immediately upon receiving the report.
The police have sent all three bodies for postmortem and started questioning the deceased’s relatives, neighbours, and acquaintances to uncover the full story behind the tragic incident.
Speaking on the case, Valsad Deputy SP Bhargav Pandya said: "We are examining the deceased's mobile records, bank transactions, and financial documents. While financial distress appears to be the primary reason, we are investigating all possible angles to rule out any other factors."
Gujarat has witnessed a concerning rise in suicide cases over recent years, reflecting a broader national trend.
In 2021, the state reported 8,789 suicides, marking a 9.1 per cent increase from the 8,050 cases in 2020.
Over a three-year span, from 2019 to 2021, Gujarat recorded 25,478 suicide cases, averaging approximately 25 suicides daily. A significant portion of these cases involves daily wage workers.
In 2017, 2,131 daily wagers died by suicide, a figure that rose to 3,204 in 2021.
The student community has also been affected. Between 2017 and 2021, over 3,000 students in Gujarat died by suicide, highlighting the pressures faced by young individuals in academic settings.
In the 2022-23 period alone, the state registered 8,538 suicides, with Ahmedabad city reporting the highest number among all police jurisdictions.
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