In Kolkata, West Bengal, brothers Pranay and Prasoon faced severe financial ruin after losing leather export contracts with Russia in 2023. Mortgaging their four-story house in the Tangra area and accumulating multi-crore debts across six banks and two financial institutions, the brothers and their wives, Romi and Sudeshna, allegedly agreed on a mass murder-suicide pact. On February 17, 2025, they laced kheer with sleeping pills to kill the entire family, including Pranay's 13-year-old daughter and Prasoon's 14-year-old son, Prateep. When the poison failed to act swiftly, Pranay and Prasoon stabbed and slit the wrists and necks of Romi and Sudeshna while suffocating them with pillows. Pranay then suffocated his daughter and attempted to smother Prateep. Prateep feigned death using yoga breath-holding techniques and survived. Discovering Prateep alive, the brothers put him in a car, drove around Kolkata for over two hours, and crashed into a metro pillar in an attempted suicide. Three family members died, while Prateep survived and provided a detailed account to child rights authorities.
Country: India
State/Province: West Bengal, India
City/Region: Kolkata
Incident Type: Family Homicide
Relationship Status: Married
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Incident Date: Feb. 18, 2025
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2025-02-18
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Financial Conflict
This incident stems from extreme financial desperation and business collapse rather than interpersonal romantic discord. After losing Russian export contracts in 2023 and incurring multi-crore debts across six banks and financial institutions, two brothers and their wives entered into a family murder-suicide plan. The adults attempted to poison their children before using sharp instruments and smothering to commit murder, demonstrating severe catastrophic escalations driven by debt, shame, and fear of ruin.
Note: This case is primarily driven by financial ruin and business failure rather than a romantic or interpersonal relationship conflict. Kolkata Police recorded the statement of 14-year-old survivor Prateep before the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Post-mortem reports confirmed that cut wounds on the wrists and necks of Romi and Sudeshna were inflicted by another person, confirming homicide. Pranay and Prasoon remain hospitalized following their car crash into a metro pillar, preventing immediate formal arrest. Extended family members have not yet stepped forward to assist police or care for the minor victim.
Initial confusion arose over whether the deaths were part of a consensual joint suicide or explicit homicides. Survivor testimony and medical examiner findings established that the cut wounds were inflicted by another person and that the children were unaware of and subjected to non-consensual force and suffocation.
In 2023, brothers Pranay and Prasoon lost three Russian leather export contracts, driving their business into catastrophic losses. To maintain a lavish lifestyle and launch failed new projects, they borrowed heavily from six private banks and two financial firms, mortgaging their Tangra residence. Facing severe debt recovery pressure after February 12, 2025, the brothers proposed a family murder-suicide on February 16. On February 17, they laced kheer with sleeping pills. When the drug failed to act quickly, Pranay and Prasoon slit the wrists and necks of Romi and Sudeshna while smothering them with pillows, then suffocated Pranay's daughter and attempted to smother Prateep. Prateep feigned death using yoga breath-holding techniques. Finding Prateep alive later, the brothers placed him in a car, drove around Kolkata for over two hours, and intentionally crashed into a metro pillar in an attempted suicide.
The primary risk factor was unmanaged, compounding financial debt coupled with social isolation and extreme fear of public humiliation. The escalation from joint financial anxiety to a mass suicide-murder conspiracy highlights how collective hopelessness within a co-habitating family unit can bypass individual protective instincts.
Catastrophic business failure and debt can drive acute hopelessness leading to domestic mass violence. Outward lifestyle preservation can conceal extreme financial peril. High-risk domestic warning signs include joint family resignation and secretive extreme decision-making.
The loss of major leather export contracts in 2023, compounding bank loans, mortgaging the family residence, and intense harassment from lenders starting around February 12, 2025, served as critical early indicators of severe collapse.
Physical scratch marks on Prateep's face and chest from force-feeding, non-self-inflicted neck and wrist cut wounds on the deceased wives, and survivor eyewitness testimony provided the key breakthrough.
Strongest evidence includes the detailed survivor testimony of 14-year-old Prateep, post-mortem reports establishing third-party sharp weapon injuries, and the physical scene at the metro pillar crash site.
Fourteen-year-old survivor Prateep stated that he overheard his family discussing the suicide plot on February 16, was force-fed laced kheer on February 17, and saw his uncle Pranay cut his mother and aunt while holding pillows over their mouths. He described holding his breath when a pillow was pressed over his own face to make his uncle believe he was dead.
Initial reports of a potential mass suicide pact or accidental car crash were reclassified into a triple murder and attempted murder investigation following Prateep's statement and medical evidence.
Unresolved matters include the long-term custody and welfare of 14-year-old Prateep, whether extended family members will come forward, and the formal court proceedings against Pranay and Prasoon once medical clearance is granted.