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"They threatened to kidnap me and my daughters. They said they know how to collect money. That's why I am mentally disturbed, and my family and I are committing suicide. All the money that I have collected from people, I have given it to Babli, yet she mentioned (we owed her) Rs 3.72 lakh... We were ready to give (her the rest of the money), but she has insulted us to the extent that we have no choice but to poison our daughters and our family."Archana Joshi in the suicide note dated 24 November
On 24 November, a family of five in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, made a suicide pact. Less than a week later, all five of them, and their three pets, were dead.
Allegedly harassed by loan sharks, 45-year-old Archana Joshi, her 47-year-old husband Sanjeev Joshi, their two teenage daughters, and Sanjeev's 67-year-old mother Nandini Joshi poisoned their pets – a rat and two dogs – in the morning of 24 November, and consumed the same later on the night of 25 November.
The elder daughter was 19, the younger one was a minor, a 16-year-old schoolgirl.
On 29 November, all five had succumbed to the poison in the hospital. Nandini Joshi and Sanjeev's younger daughter died on 26 November. His elder daughter passed away a day later. On 28 November, Sanjeev took his last breath, followed by the death of his wife Archana Joshi on 29 November.
Why Did the Family Take the Drastic Step?
Sanjeev Joshi owned an automobile parts shop, and his wife Archana ran a grocery shop from their house. They lived in Piplani's Anand Nagar locality in Bhopal.
Archana had fallen into the trap of loan sharks, who later started pestering the family for money.
In the 13-page suicide note left by the family, several people have been named. The Bhopal Police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) and arrested one Babli Dubey and her daughter Rani, along with two sisters who lived together in the same area – Parmila and Urmila.
"We have registered an FIR. Four women have been arrested and produced before the court. From there, they were sent to jail. The number of people of interest might increase as the investigation progresses," Station House Officer (SHO), Piplani, Ajay Nair told The Quint.
In a statement to the police, Sanjeev, who was then battling for his life in the hospital, said:
"In June this year, I figured that the items in the store run by my wife were decreasing gradually. My wife was asking me for money frequently. And Babli Dubey's visits had also become more regular. In September, my wife told me that she had borrowed Rs 3.72 lakh from Babli to cover our daughters' education and other expenses."
He had further alleged, "Babli and her daughter Rani were creating a ruckus over the money. So, I managed to arrange Rs 80,000 – but Babli said the amount only covered the interest and the principal amount of Rs 3.72 lakh was still due. We were very disturbed with their curses and their everyday harassment. We thought we will sell our house and repay the loan, but they wouldn't allow us more time."
In the suicide note, too, the family alleged that Babli and her accomplices were harassing the family regularly. "They had posted many people to watch over our house, and every move was being reported to Babli," it read.
'We Had Had Enough of Everyday Abuses'
"On 23 November, while I was at work and my wife had gone to the bank, Babli and her group came to our house and started asking for money. When my daughters told them to come back later when my wife or I were present, they hurled abuses at them and threatened to abduct them. We had had enough of everyday abuses. We were publicly defamed, and so we decided to end our lives together," Sanjeev said in his statement.
This incident was the trigger for the family to make a suicide pact, according to the police.
The primary investigation into the matter has revealed that Babli Dubey wasn't herself financially well off. The loan she had facilitated to Archana wasn't through her money, but through various acquaintances of her.
A widow, Babli was living with her children, one of whom works in a stationary shop.
But all the four accused were engaged in private moneylending with daily interest.
'We Are Not Cowards, We Are Helpless'
Requesting anonymity, a police personnel told The Quint that in October 2021, Archana had approached the police and filed a written complaint (accessed by The Quint) against Babli .
Babli had threatened Archana that she would kill herself if the latter didn't pay her back. She had even said that she would name Archana in the suicide note.
Archana had asked the police to intervene and buy her time to arrange the amount. She, at the police station, had said that she was planning to sell her home and would return the money. The officer present at the time had got Babli to agree to the extension for paying back the loan.
However, according to the suicide note, Babli didn't wait for the agreed time and started harassing the Joshi family.
Both the daughters, too, left note before consuming poison with the rest of the family. One of them wanted to become a fashion designer, the other aspired to become a data scientist.
Besides the suicide note, the walls of Joshi's house read: "We are not cowards, we are helpless."
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