Jeweller family deaths: Cops probe murder-suicide angle

Jaipur: Three days after a four-member family of jewellers was found hanging in Kanota, police are looking at the possibility of it being be a murder-cum-suicide case.

Police said it appeared that the head of the family was the last one to die. He had attempted suicide last month as well. Post-mortem reports, however, have not revealed any traces of sedatives in the bodies of the deceased, though Mamta Soni was found blindfolded. Police have questioned half-a-dozen persons in the case and more individuals are to be interrogated soon.

A police officer who is part of the investigation told TOI, “There are many possibilities and we are trying to find if there was murder involved in the case along with suicide as the sons were adults and convincing them to kill themselves is difficult to understand. We have questioned a number of people including the one named in suicide note.”

The deceased were identified as Yashwant Soni (45), his wife Mamta Soni (41) and their two sons - Ajit (23) and Bharat (21). While the bodies of Yashwant and his two sons were found hanging in the courtyard of their residence, Mamta’s body was found hanging in one of the bedrooms. They all had used ‘sari’ to hang themselves and the case got more intriguing as the feet of the two sons were tied together loosely to ensure that the feet do not touch the ground.

“Mamta was blindfolded when we found her body though the reason is unclear. Perhaps she was scared or someone else blindfolded her. During the investigation, we found that most likely Yashwant was the last one to die. The post-mortem report, however, found no intoxicants in their bodies”, added the official. Yashwant’s father had also committed suicide by shooting himself with a revolver.

The deceased jeweller was also under heavy debt and himself had attempted suicide last month by slitting his wrists. Both sons also apparently worked with him and their bodies were found by his brother who just the previous night had assured the family that they would pay off the debts.