Greater Noida deaths: 3 held for abetment to suicide after family of five found dead

Police said the arrest was made after multiple audio recordings were found in the deceased's mobile phone.

A day after a family of five, including three children, was found dead inside a home in Greater Noida, police on Sunday arrested three members of their family for abetment to suicide.

Police said CCTV cameras installed near Mahesh's house were also scanned, and no movement by any other person was detected during the incident. (Sunil Ghosh/ HT/Representational)

Police said the arrest was made after multiple audio recordings were found in the deceased's mobile phone.

On Saturday morning, a family of five—Mahesh, 37, his wife, Lalita, 35, their children aged 11, 7, and 3—were found dead in their home in Nagla Padma village in Rabupura, Greater Noida, after a friend of the 11-year-old boy went to the house to call his friend for school. When no response was received, the boy jumped in and found the family lying in their room in an unconscious state.

Subsequently, cops were alerted, and their bodies were sent for post-mortem examination. Police said the post-mortem was conducted under the supervision of the panel, and their viscera have been preserved for forensic analysis to identify the cause behind the death.

Initially, police suspected that the family had died of food poisoning after consuming "noodles" before sleep. However, the food safety department's investigation could not rule out food poisoning, as no symptoms of vomiting or diarrhoea were found.

"During the investigation, it was revealed that Mahesh's sister Sunita, a resident of Shalimar Bagh in Delhi, influenced her mother and transferred the property, in which the family used to live, to her name. Due to this, Mahesh was upset," said Greater Noida police in a statement. The property was transferred last year.

“Four audio recording messages—two minutes long—were also recovered from the mobile phone of Mahesh. He sent these recordings from one mobile to another. In the audio recordings, Mahesh could be heard blaming his sisters, Sunita and her husband, Shekhar, and his younger sister, Sapna, for the extreme step. He did not blame his mother, who lives with them in the same home. Multiple things found in his phone also indicate that Mahesh was suicidal,” the police added further.

Police said CCTV cameras installed near Mahesh's house were also scanned, and no movement by any other person was detected during the incident.

"Suspects Sunita, 45, her husband, Shekhar, 50 and sister Sapna, 32, all residents of Delhi, were arrested on charges of abetment to suicide," said SHO Shukla.

Prima facie, police suspect that Mahesh mixed some poisonous substance into some food and served it to his family. "We are investigating where he procured the poisonous substance. As of now, his house is sealed, and further investigation is underway," said Rajeev Kumar Sisodia, assistant commissioner of police, Greater Noida.