Autopsy finds two women, girl of family ‘murdered’ in Kolkata home; homicide case filed

Kolkata: Post-mortem examination conducted on two women and a teenage girl, whose bodies were found inside their house in Kolkata, on Thursday found that they were murdered, dismissing speculations that the three died by suicide, a police officer said.

The three members of a family were found dead inside their house, while three others were injured after their car crashed into a Metro Rail pillar in the city on early Wednesday. One of the injured persons told the police about the deaths in their family home.

The autopsy conducted bodies of the two women, with wrists slit and deep injury marks on their throats, suggested that they died due to the effect of the injuries which were ante-mortem in nature. The minor girl died due to poisoning, the officer said.

Two brothers – Pranay and Prasun Dey – lived in that house in Tangra area with their wives Sudeshna and Romi, respectively. Pranay’s son and Prasun’s daughter were the other occupants of the house.

Bodies of the three female members of the family were found in separate rooms of the house while the male members were in the car that crashed into the pillar early at around 4 am on Wednesday.

"Romi Dey had a single slash injury and both of her wrists were slit. The cause of her death is due to the effect of the antemortem injuries. The same was found on Sudeshna Dey’s body.

“The minor girl had several bruises all over her body, legs and lips. The fluid found in her stomach had the smell of medicine and the cause of her death was due to poisoning," the officer told PTI.

Sudeshna’s body bore some superficial injury marks other than those on her throat.

“The injuries were not self-inflicted in nature. They died around 36 to 48 hours before the bodies were found on Wednesday morning," the senior police officer of Kolkata Police said.

The post-mortem examination was conducted at the NRS Medical College and Hospital in the presence of a videographer, police personnel of the homicide department of Kolkata Police and Tangra Police Station officers.

Following the autopsy, it can be said that the three were murdered within "three to six hours after they had their last meal".

"The two brothers claimed that the three died by suicide. They tried to mislead our investigators. We suspect that they had an active role behind these deaths," he said.

Police have lodged a murder case against unidentified persons in connection with the deaths.

"A murder case has been lodged against unidentified persons. We are investigating the matter," the officer said.

A police team was probing into the accident of the vehicle near Abhishikta crossing on EM Bypass in which the two brothers along with a minor boy were trying to "flee", he said.

The police came to know about the deaths in the house from one of the three injured occupants of the car.

The family, which used to operate a tannery business, was in financial difficulties, the officer said.

Forensic experts collected evidence from their Tangra house.

"They collected samples mainly from the dining room and the bathroom area where bloodstains were discovered," he said.

Meanwhile, the health condition of the three persons injured in the car crash was stable following surgeries at a private hospital in the city, the officer said.