Keonjhar (Orissa), Apr 16: A day after the death of a woman and her six children in a suspected suicide deal in Keonjhar district, her ailing husband today confessed to have fed the family members poison, with full knowledge of his wife, before himself consuming pesticide, police said.
Uttar Meher (42) of Sriharinagar in Bargarh district, who is undergoing treatment at the hospital at Ghatagaon, allegedly commited the gruesome act near a river bridge at Katarabeda yesterday due to extreme poverty, police said adding his condition has improved.
All the children, including four girls, were aged between three and 14 years.
The family had reached Ghatagaon on a pilgrimage to have ‘darshan' of the presiding deity ‘Maa Tarini' on the occasion of ‘Maha Visuba Sankranti' on Friday.
After ‘darshan', they boarded a bus towards Keonjhar and got down near Katarabeda yesterday. They went to nearby Sita river bridge where they took poison-laced food.
As the children were unable to bear the pain after consuming poison, he strangulated two of them, police said.
Uttar, taken to hospital when a passer-by informed the police about the incident, told the police that he along with his wife had planned the family suicide. Police registered a case. PTI
