JAIPUR: Eleven members of a Hindu Pakistani refugee family were found dead on Sunday morning at their home in Lodta village of Jodhpur district in Rajasthan.
The cause of their deaths has not yet been ascertained but it is widely suspected that they either died by suicide or succumbed to poisonous gas emissions as the site of the tragedy is said to be full of the foul smell of pesticides. A special team of Jodhpur police is now investigating these mysterious deaths.
The incident occurred in Dechu police station area about 120 kilometres from Jodhpur. The family had come from Pakistan’s Sindh province in 2015 and was in the process of getting its citizenship in India. They were a family of daily wage labourers who lived on a farm in the village. Among the deceased, six are adults while the other five are minors.
One family member, 37-year-old Kewal Ram survived the tragedy as he was not at home last night and was sleeping in the fields. On Sunday morning, when he reached home and shouted alarm, the entire village was gripped with fear and sensation.
A police team from the local Thana soon arrived at the spot. Later in the day, the Collector and SP of Jodhpur rural also visited the area. A team of Forensic Experts have also reached the village and the Post-Mortem report of the dead is likely to reveal the exact cause of these deaths.
The Collector of Jodhpur Inderjeet Singh said, “this is an extremely sensitive case and we are treating it on top priority. That is why a forensics team, a dog squad and a special team to conduct post-mortems have been rushed here. As the investigation proceeds, we should be able to know the exact cause of these 11 deaths in this one family of Hindu refugees from Pakistan.”