DHENKANAL: In a shocking incident, police on Saturday recovered bodies of three members of a family who are suspected to have hanged themselves to death three days back, at their house in Chaulia Khamar village within Dhenkanal Sadar police limits.
The deceased were identified as 70-year-old Sankarsan Das, a retired railway employee, his daughter Subarna Das (40) and grandson Santosh Das (16).
Additional SP Suryamani Pradhan said, Sankarsan’s wife, 60-year-old Puspanjali, had been staying with the bodies in the house but failed to inform the matter to anyone.
Local villagers said Sankarsan and his wife stayed with their daughter and grandson at the village while their son lives in Dhenkanal town along with his family. They alleged that all four, including Puspanjali, had mental health issues and mostly lived indoors without socialising with anyone which is why they could not suspect the matter earlier.
On the day, they found foul smell emanating from their house and informed Sankarsan’s son and eventually police were intimated.
Police said the family was known to suffer from fear psychosis. 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, the additional SP said.
As per preliminary investigation, the trio took the extreme step due to mental health issues. “Three unnatural death cases have been registered and the bodies sent for postmortem,” Pradhan said adding, a scientific team from Cuttack has been pressed into service to find out further details on the incident.
(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050, Tele Manas - 14416 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)