Former corporator Sanjeev Mishra committed suicide with his family of four as his sons suffered from an incurable genetic disease.
The heartbreaking incident took place in the Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh on January 26. According to reports, Mishra and his wife were depressed as their sons were suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
Mishra (45), his wife Neelam (42), and their sons Anmol (13) and Sarthak (7) were the victims.
Mishra also took to Twitter before taking the drastic step. He tweeted, "May God spare even enemy's children from this disease. I am not able to save my children, I do not want to live anymore."
According to reports, some of his friends rushed to his house after reading the post. The police broke into the locked door to find all four of them to be unconscious.
They were rushed to the hospital, where they were declared dead. Postmortem revealed that the family had consumed Celphos tablets. Celphos is a pesticide that contains Aluminium phosphide.
A case has been registered as Mishra and his wife may have given the tablets to their sons first before themselves. The children may not know what they were consuming, and in that case, it may count as a killing of the sons.
Mishra worked as a corporator for Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). He was BJP Mandal's Vice President of the Durgapur area. He also owned a small restaurant.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle weakness and degeneration. A protein called dystrophin that keeps the muscle cells intact gets altered.
The disease primarily affects boys. Girls can be carriers and show mild symptoms. DMD has no treatment. Supportive care has to be given to improve the quality of life.
(Input from various media sources)