Five of a family commit suicide in Mysore hotel

Mysore, Sep 8 : Five members of a family from Kerala died in an apparent suicide pact in a hotel in this tourist city of Karanataka, the police said Monday. Two children aged 7 and 5 have survived and were being treated in a hospital.

Anupama, 7, and Akhila, 5, who were allegedly given sleeping pills before their elders consumed poison, were out of danger but in a state of shock, the police said.

The police identified the dead as K.B.K Panicker, 68, his wife Ratnamma, 60, their twin daughters Indu and Bindu, 34, and son Binoo Balakrishnan, 33.

Anupama and Akhila are daughters of Indu and Bindu but "we are still to get clear information on who is whose child," Kumaraswamy, Mysore police official investigating the case, told IANS.

"Financial problem is believed to be the cause for the suicide but the family did not leave any suicide note," Kumaraswamy said.

"The post-mortem is still not over. Only after it is done, we will know what the family members (had) consumed to take their own lives," he said.

The police quoted the hotel owner as saying the family checked in Sep 4, booking the room in the name of K.B.K. Panicker of Alappuzha, Kerala.

The family on Sep 5 and 6 went out sightseeing in Mysore, about 140 km away from the Karnataka capital Bangalore.

Around Sunday noon one of the children called the reception to inform that the elders were not waking up.

The hotel staff found the bodies and informed the police, Kumaraswamy said.

"Relatives have arrived from Kerala. Bodies will be handed over to them after the post-mortem examination," he said.

--IANS