Family Of 5 Die In Suicide Pact Fearing Investigation Into Newborn Baby's Alleged Sale

In a shocking incident, five members of a family in India died in a suicide pact after fearing a police investigation into the alleged sale of a newborn baby.

The incident took place Sunday when the five people consumed poison to end their lives in the southern state of Karnataka.

“They should have cooperated with the police which would have solved the issue and traced the baby, instead they took the extreme step,” senior police officer M Chandra Shekar said, according to The New Indian Express.

The tragedy unfolded after an affair between a 20-year-old nursing college student and a man led to a pregnancy, about which the woman did not inform her family. The woman then stopped meeting her family, even though her father kept urging her to come home.

Last month, the woman gave birth to a girl child, after which she informed her mother about the baby. Later, when the woman visited her family, and gave the child to her mother to be looked after. The mother then handed over the child to an acquaintance.

Few days later when the woman went to the acquaintance's house to take her baby, the latter woman denied having been given custody of the child. The nursing student got worried about her child’s wellbeing and informed the police.

When the police questioned the acquaintance, she claimed she had not taken the child. However, CCTV footage showed her claim was incorrect, The Times of India reported.

Later, the family told the police they would need five days to find the baby and produce the child in front of authorities. However, the woman, her parents, her husband and daughter consumed poison Sunday evening in a bid to kill themselves. All five were declared dead Monday.

In August, a man and his wife took their own lives by jumping into a river along with their two children. The incident took place in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The police said family dispute was probably the cause of the suicide pact. The bodies of 38-year-old Kanchi Satish and their 2-year-old daughter, Bindu Sri Durga, were found by police in the river Godavari. During a search, police found Satish's abandoned bike, clothes and flip-flops.

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.