A shoemaker-cum-cobbler attempted suicide with his wife and two children in an Agra village on Sunday morning after uploading a video accusing a moneylender of tormenting the family.

Deepak Kumar, 30, who forwarded the video to friends and relatives before drinking insecticide with wife Anuradha and their children, aged 5 and 7, said he had failed to repay the loan because the lockdown had hit his business.

All four were critically ill on Sunday evening at the S.N. Medical College, where relatives had taken them from their home in Gyaspur village.

“I had borrowed Rs 1.5 lakh from a local moneylender last year at 10 per cent annual interest. But my work suffered because of the lockdown and I couldn’t repay him,” Deepak, who makes shoes and sells them from a pushcart, says in the video. “The moneylender and his henchmen began visiting my home and threatening me every day. The police didn’t accept my complaints.”

Deepak, who has named the accused in the video, adds: “I sold my house for Rs 1.5 lakh to a local businessman on September 23 and told the moneylender to come and take the principal. I promised to repay the interest in a few months.

“He called me to his bungalow. There, he locked me in, thrashed me and forced me to sign on a blank stamp paper. He then called and asked my wife to come over with a blank cheque if she wanted me alive.

“They attacked her when she arrived and forced her to make a thumb impression on a blank cheque. They forced me to say I had borrowed Rs 3 lakh at 10 per cent interest and would repay it by October 28, and made a video of my statement. We have returned home but are distressed and are ending our lives.”

Rajesh Kumar, a relative of Deepak, said: “All four are unconscious. The doctors are trying to save them.”

Satyendra Singh, station house officer at the local Shahganj police station, said: “A case will be registered against the accused. We are waiting for Deepak and his wife to give their statements.”

Referring to Deepak’s allegation that the local police had refused to accept his complaints, he promised to probe “any lapse on the part of the police”.