Brothers, four of their children die in murder-suicide

SHOCKER Probe on whether the men took the step due to financial stress as a notice to pay back loan amount was found pasted in flat

JAIPUR: Two brothers from Ahmedabad allegedly ended their lives after killing their four minor children, police said. All the six people were found hanging in a flat in a society in Gujarat capital on Friday.

Police said they were investigating whether the men took the step because of financial stress as a notice from bank to pay back loan amount was found pasted on the premises.

No suicide note has been recovered so far.

JAIPUR: Two brothers from Ahmedabad city allegedly ended their lives after killing their four minor children, police said. All the six people were found hanging in a flat in a middle-class society in the city on Friday.

Police said they were investigating whether the men took the step because of financial stress as a notice from bank to pay back loan amount was found pasted on a wall in the flat.

“Preliminary probe reveals that the two brothers worked in different garment shops. On June 17, they left their respective homes after telling their wives that they were taking their kids for an outing. One of the brothers reached the unoccupied flat, where they used to live in the past, in a car along with his two children around 8.40 pm while the other brother reached around 10 pm on a scooter with his two children,” said Nipuna M Torawane, a joint commissioner of police (JCP) in Ahmedabad city.

The flat belonged to the younger brother where both the men lived together with their families.

However, they had shifted to separate houses six months ago.

A half torn notice from a bank to pay the dues was found pasted outside the flat.

The amount is yet to be verified,” the JCP said.

‘NOT RULING OUT ANY POSSIBILITY’

When the police official was asked whether the deceased had killed themselves due to financial stress or if they were under the influence of black magic, as similar incidents had been reported in the past too, she said, “Different teams have been formed which are investigating the case from different angles. We are not ruling out any possibility. We are tracking their past, recording statements of their relatives and friends to reach a conclusion.”

NO SUICIDE NOTE HAS BEEN RECOVERED

No suicide note has been recovered so far. The police official said when the two brother didn’t reach their respective homes for two days, their wives went to the flat which was found locked from inside. “When they found the house locked from inside, they informed the neighbours, local police and around 3am, the door was broken and the six were found hanging inside,” Torawane said.

The police found the bodies of the two men in the drawing room, two girls in the kitchen and two 12-year-old boys in another bedroom.

“The bodies must be over a day old as they had started decaying. We are yet to find the exact cause of death but four plastic tumblers have been recovered from the flat which indicates that the two brothers had given some drink to the kids...it could have been laced with sedatives...,” said Torawane.

THE FLAT BELONGED TO THE YOUNGER BROTHER AND BOTH THE MEN HAD LIVED THERE WITH THEIR FAMILIES TILL SIX MONTHS AGO