A 27-year-old "mentally disturbed and unemployed" man allegedly killed his three minor children -- hanging two of them to death and strangling the third -- in Nagaur district when his wife was out for work, police said on Saturday.

They said the incident happened on Friday evening when Nathuram hanged his daughters -- Seema (7), Manisha (5) -- to death and strangled son Vishal (2) at his house in Nimbi Jodha area of Ladnu town.

When his wife returned from work and saw her children dead she called the neighbours who informed the police.

"Primary investigation reveals that the accused was mentally disturbed for some time. He was unemployed and the financial condition of the family is poor," the police said.

"The accused is absconding after the crime and a manhunt has been launched to nab him. The bodies were handed over to the family members after a post-mortem on Saturday," they added.