Five members of a family at Chathanpara near Kallambalam in Thiruvananthapuram district were found dead under mysterious circumstances on Saturday.
The deceased are Manikuttan (54), his wife Sandhya (46), their children Abhijith (16), Ameeya (12) and Manikuttan's mother's sister Devaki Amma (78). The Kallambalam police have registered a case as per Section 174 (Unnatural death) of Indian Penal Code.
According to police, Manikuttan was found hanging in a room and others were found consuming poison. The police suspect that Manikuttan had committed suicide after giivng poison ot the family members.
Manikuttan was in debt and he was running a small store at Chathanpara. Two days ago, the panchayat officials asked him to close the shop. Since then, he was in a depressed state, This might be the reason for taking the extreme step, police said.
The police have begun the probe to find out the reason for death. The inquest examination is in progress and a forensic team would examine the spot soon.