5 skeletons found in Karnataka house, dead of same family
Skeletons of five people found in a dilapidated house in Karnataka's Chitradurga, suspected to have died in 2019. Cause of death and circumstances unknown.
The skeletons of five people were found inside a dilapidated house in Karnataka’s Chitradurga on Thursday night, with police suspecting the deaths may have taken place in 2019 and triggering questions among investigators and neighbours about how all members of family may have died without anyone noticing.
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While the cause of the deaths was yet to be ascertained, police officers said that had not ruled out suicide, with preliminary investigation suggesting that the bodies may have been lying undetected, inside the house for nearly five years.
The discovery was made by a local who ventured into the seemingly abandoned building and stumbled upon a skeleton before he tipped off a journalist, officers said.
“We received a call from the journalist at around 9pm on Thursday. Our officials rushed to the spot and found the dilapidated main door was broken,” Chitradurga superintendent of police Dharmendra Kumar Meena said.
Soon, forensics experts and personnel from the crime investigation department were called in, leading to the discovery of the four other bodies.
The deceased were identified as Jagannath Reddy (80), a retired PWD engineer, his wife Premakka (72), their three children —Triveni (55), Krishna (51) and Narendra (53).
While four skeletons were found in the first room the officials entered, with two lying on the bed and two on the floor, the fifth was found on the floor of another room, in what officials called was “sleeping position”.
Property documents retrieved since the discovery of the bodies have established that the house belongs to Jagannath, Meena said.
“When we inquired with neighbours, they said that nobody other than Krishna Reddy would step out of the house to make daily purchases till the middle of 2019,” the SP said, adding that the family kept to itself, and rarely interacted with others.
Household items, including a calendar from 2019 and the last paid electricity bill, found at the spot led police to believe that all five died in 2019, though the exact date and cause of death, they added, will only emerge after forensic examinations.
“We have verified the family’s power bills with authorities and the last bill was paid on January 13, 2019. The power supply was disconnected due to unpaid bills after that. Jagannath spent lakhs on medical expenses for his ailing wife, Premakka. The couple had four children. One of them, Manjunath died in 2014. The other two sons and daughters were unmarried,” the officer added.
Neighbours and the few acquaintances the family had have told police that all five of them suffered critical health issues, mostly kept to themselves, and rarely stepped out of the house.
“All of them have said that the family lived a completely secluded life. Some said that the last time they were seen was sometime between June and July 2019. The house remained locked since. Around two months ago, one of the residents of the area saw the main door was broken, but the police were not informed,” Meena said.
The family often communicated through a window, Chitradurga city municipal council member SP Tarikeshwari said.
“The family kept to themselves and rarely interacted with others, often communicating through a window without opening the door,” she said.
But signs of the house having been ransacked have also prompted to initiate a probe into intrusions at the property after the deaths. “The scene of the crime suggested that the house had been intruded on multiple occasions and may have been ransacked,” a senior police officer said.
Investigations have also revealed that Narendra was imprisoned for a short period in 2013 over robbery allegations.
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Speaking to reporters in Tumkuri, Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara said, “There is a report that five skeletons have been found in a house… the police are already at work and samples have been sent to a forensic lab. Whether they died by suicide or were killed by someone is now known. Until an investigation and forensic analysis takes place, we can’t come to any conclusions.”