Preliminary autopsy of 3 of Kolkata family points to ‘homicide’, say police
The family's debts ran into crores having borrowed money from at least seven entities, police say.
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Thee bodies -- of two woman and a minor girl-- were found in a multi-storey apartment in Kolkata. (Express Photo/Partha Paul)The preliminary post-mortem examination of the three female members of a family whose bodies were recovered from a three-storey house in Tangra neighbourhood of east Kolkata on Wednesday has pointed to “homicide”, officials investigating the matter said on Thursday.
The police were led to the bodies soon after an accident occurred at the city’s EM Bypass with one of the occupants, Pranay Dey, 44, claiming that his wife Sudeshna Dey, 39, sister-in-law Romi Dey, 44, and Romi’s 14-year-old daughter had died by suicide at their residence and that he along with his brother Prasun, 42, and 15-year-old son intentionally crashed their vehicle into a metro pillar at Abhishikta More in an attempt to end their lives.
The three were admitted to Ruby General Hospital.
While the police continue their investigation, they are working to match Pranay’s claims with the statements of his brother and son.
It has also come to light that the family, which runs a leather-glove manufacturing unit that once employed nearly 200 workers, was in a severe financial distress, with their debts running into crores of rupees. Their accountant has also been questioned in the matter, the police said.
Prasun, the younger brother, is mentally unwell, and they will also question him, the police said.
Rupesh Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), said, “The three are believed to have driven around various parts of the city, including Belgharia Expressway, Kona Expressway, Second Hooghly Bridge, AJC Bose Road, Seven Point Crossing, Science City, before crashing their car into a metro pillar at EM Bypass. They made multiple failed suicide attempts.”
Another police official said the three female family members are likely to have died on Tuesday (February 18) within three to six hours of their last meal.
The family had taken loans from at least seven entities, including banks and private lenders, and the house and the car were mortgaged, it is learnt.
Citing the report, a senior police official monitoring the case said, “The autopsy reveals that Romi Dey had incised wounds on both wrists and “a cut injury on throat” while the girl had multiple bruises on the chest, legs, and lips; scalp hematomas (head trauma); cyanosis in hands and feet and submucosal hemorrhage in the stomach. Sudeshna Dey’s body had incised wounds on both wrists and a superficial incised wound on the throat.”
“This indicates that the girl died of poisoning while the other two had clear-cut injuries indicating they were not conscious when the injuries were inflicted on them. It was the injuries which were the cause of their death,” the official said.
The family led an upper-middle-class lifestyle and also owned a property in Bolpur, it is learnt. Pranay and Prasun’s father Pradip Dey passed away a few years ago.
Romi Dey’s father has filed a case of murder under Section 103 (1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against unidentified persons.
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