Financial difficulties, illness likely behind death of four family members — Police

JOHOR BAHRU: Police have not ruled out financial difficulties and illness suffered by the wife as the probable causes behind the death of four family members at their home at Rini Residence, Mutiara Rini, here last Friday.

Johor police chief Datuk Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd said they were still waiting for a full report on the incident.

“Thus far, police have not found any criminal elements from the investigations carried out at the scene.

“Initial investigation also found that there were two issues at hand, the first was financial problems and the second, the illness suffered by the wife. However, we are still waiting for the complete report to support the theory,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after the handing over of the Johor contingent flag to the contingent’s football team in conjunction with the Inspector-General of Police Cup Football Championship 2017 here yesterday.

Last Friday, a couple and their two children were found dead at their home at Rini Residence at 2.30pm.

The body of the husband, R. Pubalan, 53, a liquor trader, was found hanging from the ceiling of a room on the upper floor of the house while his wife, P. Jeya, 46, who was diagnosed with illness and undergoing hemodialysis treatment, was found dead on a bed near the living room.

The bodies of the couple’s children, P. Sharveen, 14, and P. Krishna, 9, were found in another room.

Meanwhile, Iskandar Puteri police chief ACP Noor Hashim Mohamad said the post-mortem on Jeya found she died due to suffocation.

“There were red spots on the neck muscles, lips and eyes which can be caused by pressing a soft object or cloth to block the airway,” he told reporters at the Iskandar Puteri police heaquarters.

He said the post-mortem on the husband confirmed that he died due to hanging while the postmortems on the children showed they died due to strangulation which was consistent with the finding of a small belt at the scene which was believed to have been used to strangle them.

He added that police were still pursuing investigations into the case but so far there weren’t any indications anyone else was involved.

Neither were there any signs of a break-in, he said.

The bodies were sent to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital here for the post-mortems. - Bernama