Bodies of 3 women, 2 children found in a well in Rajasthan's Dudu town

The women, aged 27, 23 and 20, were siblings and married to three brothers in Dudu town’s Meeno Ka Mohalla, police said. The eldest sister’s two sons (four years old and 22 days old) are among the deceased.

The bodies of three women, two of them pregnant, and two children were found in a well in Jaipur district’s Dudu town on Saturday, police said, adding that it appeared to be a case of suicide following harassment by in-laws.

Five of the accused family have been arrested, police said, refusing to reveal their identities.

Five of the accused family have been arrested, police said, refusing to reveal their identities.

The women, aged 27, 23 and 20, were siblings and married to three brothers in Dudu town’s Meeno Ka Mohalla, police said. The eldest sister’s two sons (four years old and 22 days old) are among the deceased.

“Bodies of three women from the same family and their two children were found in a well in Dudu town. They had gone missing from their in-laws’ house after an argument on May 25,” said Dinesh Kumar, assistant superintendent of police.

The women reportedly left their in-laws’ house on the pretext of going to the market. After they failed to return, their family put up posters and lodged a missing persons’ complaint, an official familiar with the matter added.

As per the first information report lodged by the women’s family, the eldest sister called her father early on May 25 and informed him that they were being beaten by their husbands and other relatives, and feared for their lives.

“When I reached Dudu and asked the in-laws, they started abusing me and told me that ‘they have died, we don’t know anything, go away or you will also die’… The eldest daughter has two sons. One is four, while the other is 22 days old, and the younger two sisters are 8-9 months pregnant. I fear they killed my three daughters and two grandchildren in a pre-planned manner and made them disappear,” said the complaint.

It appeared to be a case of death by suicide, according to Manish Agarwal, superintendent of police, Jaipur rural. “One of the women has put up a WhatsApp status saying they were troubled by their in-laws and it was better to die. The exact cause of death will be known after the post-mortem,” he said, adding that the husbands and in-laws have been booked under sections 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 304B (dowry death) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“Further investigation is on and more charges will be added if we find the involvement of the in-laws in the deaths,” the police officer said.

(With the agency inputs)