Aditi Khanna/London
Scotland Yard launched a murder investigation after three members of a Tamil-origin family were found dead in their flat in west London. Officers forced entry into a block of flats in Brentford after concerns were raised about the well-being of Poorna Kaameshwari Sivaraj.
Inside, they discovered the body of the 36-year-old woman and her three-year-old son, Kailash Kuha Raj. Her husband, Kuha Raj Sithamparanathan, was found with severe stab injuries and died at the scene soon after.
The police believe the 42-year-old fatally injured himself when officers entered the property. While the police are yet to confirm their line of inquiry and a post-mortem on the bodies is scheduled for Thursday, it is suspected to be a case of murder-suicide.
"Although we are in the infancy of this investigation, it appears that Poorna and Kailash had been dead for some time. This is a murder investigation and my team will work diligently to establish the sequence of events that led to their murders and the death of Kuha Raj Sithamparanathan," said Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding from the Met's Specialist Crime Command, who is leading the investigation.
He said that their initial enquiries had established that Poorna and Kailash had not been seen or heard from for some days, perhaps since around the September 21.
"We know the family often walked their dog, a poodle cross breed, in and around the local area and I would ask anyone who saw them at any time in the last month to contact police so we can begin to build a full picture of their lives," said Harding.
The Met Police said it initially received a call late on Sunday from a family member raising concerns about the welfare of Poorna. Officers attended the flat several times in the early hours of Monday but received no reply.
