The police in Uttar Pradesh’s Western district of Etah launched a probe after five members of a family, including two minors, were found dead inside their locked house on Saturday.
The dead were identified as Rajeshwar Prasad Pachauri,75, a retired health department staff, his daughter-in-law Divya Pachauri, 33, her two sons aged 10 and one, and her sister Bulbul, 23.
Police reached the house in the Sringar Nagar locality of Kotwali area in Etah after a neighbour alerted them early on Saturday about a woman laying on a cot outside the house with a frothing mouth. They found the house locked from inside and nobody responded to the calls from outside, the police said.
After cutting through the main gate, police found Ms. Bulbul, Mr. Pachauri and the two minor boys dead on their beds, said Senior Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar Singh.
During investigation, an open bottle of a toilet cleaning liquid, a box of sulphas and a blade was found at the spot, said Mr. Singh in a joint statement with District Magistrate Shuklal Bharti. The police also found some milk in a utensil and sent the sample for forensic testing.
While Ms. Pachauri and her children had froth in their mouths, Ms. Bulbul had ligature marks on her neck, the officer said.
There was no clear evidence of entry into the house as the main door and the roof were locked from the inside, the police said. It seems like there was “no forced entry,” Mr. Singh said, adding that all items in the house were in their place.
“Prima facie it appears that the deaths of the concerned persons was caused due to domestic discord and consumption of toxic substances,” the SSP and DM said in their statement.
The next of kin told police they did not have any animosity with anyone. Police have formed five teams to dig up CCTV footage and call details to investigate the deaths with the bodies sent for post mortem.
