Dhenkanal: Three members of a family were found hanging inside a house at Chaulia Khamar village in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district on Saturday.
The deceased have been identified as Shankarshan Das (70), a retired railway employee, his 40-year-old daughter Subarna and 16-year-old grandson Santosh.
The tragic incident came to light when Shankarshan’s wife Puspanjali (65) went to her son Prasanna Kumar Das’ place in Dhenkanal town on Saturday and told him that three were dead.
Prasanna called up someone in the village, who informed him about stench coming from the house. He then visted the village with his mother, and found them hanging in one room, while his 45-year-old sister Subarna and her son Santosh (18) were also hanging in a room.
After getting information about the incident, a team from Dhenkanal Sadar police station visited the spot and launched an investigation. The bodies have been recovered and sent for post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause of death.
Police suspect that the 65-year-old was living with the corpses of her family members in the house, located on a secluded side of the village, for at least two days.
The family was known to suffer from fear psychosis and did not mingle with others. “They used to reportedly call police on the suspicion of being attacked but when the cops showed up, they would lock themselves indoors. The four used to do it often leading to false alarm among police and neighbours,” Additional SP Suryamani Pradhan told the media.