Bengaluru family of 5 found dead, suicide suspected

BENGALURU: Four members of a family were found hanging while the body of a nine-month-old, 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-yearold girl was found lying unconscious beside the bodies.

The bodies of a 51-year-old woman, her two daughters aged 34 and 31, her 25-year-old son and nine-month-old grandson have been sent for post-mortem and suicide will be confirmed only after the examination, Byadrahalli 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.

Police said that a family dispute could have been the reason behind the suicide. In the brief statement given to the police, the woman’s husband said that one of his daughters had left her in-laws’ place, which he wasn’t happy about. Neighbours told police that there were constant arguments between the man and the other family members, and last Sunday, the man stormed out of the house. The five bodies were found in a decomposed state and forensic experts have estimated that they died about five days ago. Meanwhile, the two-year-old girl is hospitalised. “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 counselling,” said Patil.