Debt-ridden MP family's suicide bid: Toll reaches 3 as 21-year-old woman dies

The death toll in an incident in which five members of a family consumed poison in a suicide bid in Piplani area of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh reached three on Saturday, a police official said.

Debt-ridden mechanic Sanjiv Joshi (47), his mother Nandani (67), wife Archana (45) daughters Grishma (21) and Poorvi (16) had consumed cold drinks laced with poison on Thursday night while being live on video with friends through Whatsapp, he said.

A dog that was given poison first, possibly to test its efficacy, had died too, he added.

''While Nandani and Poorvi died on Friday, Grishma died in hospital on Saturday morning, taking the toll in the incident to three. Sanjiv and Archana continue to be under treatment,'' said Piplani police station in charge Ajay Nair.

On Friday, Additional Superintendent of Police Rajesh Singh Bhadoriya had said Joshi had taken loans from seven to eight people, and four women have been booked for abetment of suicide.

(With inputs from agencies.)