THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Five members of a family were found dead at their house at Varkala in the district on Wednesday.
Joshi, 37, his wife Smitha, 32, their children Saran, 7, Dhanush, 4, and six-month-old Vani were found dead at their house at Varkala town.
Joshi was running a hardware shop at Varkala Puthenchantha.
While the body of Joshi was found hanging on the first floor of the house, the bodies of Smitha, Saran, Dhanush and Vani were found lying on the ground floor.
Prima facie, the police suspect that Joshi committed suicide after murdering other members of the family.
A hack was found on the neck of the Smitha’s body and there were marks of rope on the neck of the children.
A knife with stains of blood was also recovered from the house.
There were also blood stains on the body of Joshi, police sources said.
Friends and relatives of the family said that there was no known reason for the family to end life. Police suspect that financial burden or family dispute might have led to the tragedy.
The bodies were handed over to the relatives after conducting postmortem at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College.
Cremation was held at the ancestral house of Joshi at Puthenchantha in the evening.