Eleven members of a family of Pakistani Hindu migrants were found dead in a hut on the farm where they had worked. They were discovered in the early hours of Sunday morning in Lodta village of Dechu Tehsil of Jodhpur.
One member of the family was found alive outside the hut, but he claimed to have no idea about what had taken place in the night. The deceased include four women, two men and five minors. Out of the minors there are four boys and a girl between the age of 5 to 17 years. The family belonged to the Bhil community.
A chemical odour was present in the hut and a suicide note was also found. However, it has come forth that there was a dispute over the custody of the children in the family and the police are also exploring the possibility of murder. The family had taken the farm on rent to sow crops.
Police will interrogate the lone surviving member to try to find out the cause of the death.
“A forensic team and dog squad has been called to help in the investigation. There are no injury marks on the bodies, but we are exploring all aspects of the case,” said SP Rural Rahul Barhat.
“It is a tragic incident. A suicide note has been found but it is written in Hindi; a language they do not know. The bodies were all stacked up close to each other in a small hut and some were covered in blankets, which is surprising in this hot weather. A syringe and grains of rice have been found buried near the hut. This was sniffed out by the police dog. I hope that there is a fair investigation,” said Hindu Singh Sodha, President Seemant Lok Sangathan, an organisation that works for the welfare of Pakistani Hindu migrants.
“One of the family members is alive but he claims to have no idea about what took place in the night,” added Barhat.
The incident has taken place in the chief minister’s home district and the chief minister has directed officials to spare no effort to investigate the matter.
The bodies have been sent to MDM Hospital for post mortem.
