SUICIDE PACT BY 11 PAK HINDUS IN JODHPUR
JAIPUR/JODHPUR: Eleven members of a Hindu family who moved from Pakistan to India in 2015 were found dead on Sunday in a small house located on a farm in Lodata Alavata village of Rajasthan’s Jodhpur district in what the police suspected to be a suicide pact. A family member who slept outside the hut and was alive informed the police.
The dead include a five-yearold girl and two boys, aged 11 and 10. Police found traces of rat poison and a suicide note in the house, causing them to suspect that the 11 had killed themselves. But murder cannot be ruled out, the police said.
“All angles are being investigated,” said Jodhpur (rural) superintendent of police Rahul Barhat.
Barhat said that the lone survivor who slept on the veranda outside the hut, informed the police about the deaths around 10 am on Sunday.
“The survivor told us that when he went into the house on
Sunday morning, other members of the family didn’t wake up. He said he called some people and it was found that the 11 people were dead. Kewalram went to the police station to inform about the incident,” the SP said.
The Jodhpur SP and district collector Indrajeet Singh visited the scene.
Senior police officials, a dog squad and a forensic science laboratory (FSL) team also reached the house.
The dead belonged to the Bheel community. All of them lived in the single-room house.
“All the deceased are Pakistani immigrants and were living in Jodhpur since 2015 on long-term visa. Migrants of any other country can only apply for citizenship after completing seven years in India,” said Barhat.