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The mysterious death of five members of a family in Etah on Saturday turned out to be a case of suicide by one of the victims, who earlier poisoned the other kin to death.
The reason for the extreme step was, however, not yet known and was being probed.
On Saturday, the recovery of bodies of Rajeshwar Prasad Pachauri (65), his daughter-in-law Divya (40), her younger sister Bulbul Upadhyaya (25) and Divya’s 10-year-old son Aarush and Chhotu (10 months) from their Shringar Nagar Colony residence in Kotwali police station area, sent shock waves in Etah city. The incident came to light after neighbours found stench emanating from the house which was locked from outside, The police were informed and they used gas cutters to break open the metal door to gain access.
While after preliminary enquiry, the police suspected it as suicide, they waited for the autopsy report for corroborating their theory.
On Sunday, SSP Etah, Sunil Kumar Singh, said the autopsy report confirmed that four of the victims, except for Divya, were poisoned to death while Divya ended her life by slashing her wrists.
Singh said that Divya did not eat for the last couple of days due to a domestic conflict and under depression, she served food laced with poison to all family members and strangulated her infant son to death. She later consumed sulphas tablets and slashed her wrists to ensure her death.
The police are now trying to figure out the exact reason for this extreme step and are waiting for Divya’s husband Diwakar Pachauri to reach Etah and question him.
Diwakar works for a pharmaceutical company in Roorkee and was at his workplace when the incident came to light.