Four members of a family -- three women and a man-- were found hanging while the body of a nine-month-old baby, suspected to have died of starvation, was found in a house here on Friday night, police said. Police suspect the family members died by suicide.A two-year-old girl was found lying unconscious beside the bodies.
The bodies of a 51-year-old woman, her two daughters aged 32 and 29, her 25-year-old son, and nine-month-old grandson have been sent for post-mortem examination and suicide will be confirmed only after that, Byadarahalli police said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Sanjeev Patil said that police were not able to recover any suicide note from the house. According to the officer, the incident came to light when the husband of the elderly woman returned home after five days. “He called the police and when they broke open the door, they found out that there were five bodies inside the house and [two-year-old] the baby was found alive. The bodies had started decomposing by the time they were found,” said Patil.
In his statement to the police, the woman’s husband claimed that her daughter wanted to stay away from her in-laws and had asked her husband to move to a different house. “He said that he was not happy that his daughter was making these demands for their in-laws. The fact that she has been living in the house for the past year had irked the head of the family. He also claimed that his wife had asked his younger daughter also to do the same when she came home in February. He said there were some issues with his son as well. We are verifying these claims,” said a Byadarahalli police station official.
{{/usCountry}}In his statement to the police, the woman’s husband claimed that her daughter wanted to stay away from her in-laws and had asked her husband to move to a different house. “He said that he was not happy that his daughter was making these demands for their in-laws. The fact that she has been living in the house for the past year had irked the head of the family. He also claimed that his wife had asked his younger daughter also to do the same when she came home in February. He said there were some issues with his son as well. We are verifying these claims,” said a Byadarahalli police station official.
{{/usCountry}}The official added that on Sunday following one such argument, the man left the house claiming he didn’t want to stay with them anymore.
Neighbours told police that there were constant arguments between the man and the other family members and last Sunday, following an argument over the same issue, the man had stormed out of the house. Since leaving the house he didn’t attend any calls made by the family members..
The five bodies were found in a decomposed state and forensic experts have told police that the deaths could have occurred five days ago.
Meanwhile, the two-year-old girl is undergoing treatment at a private hospital. “We have shifted the child to a private hospital since she was found to be unconscious. We are still awaiting a report from the hospital. When she recovers, we will provide her counseling,” said Patil.
Soumendu Mukherjee, additional commissioner of Police (West) also said that the reason for the five deaths is yet to be ascertained. “The woman’s husband is in a state of shock. He will be inquired as soon as he is fit,”Mukherjee said.
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