Mystery continues to shroud the deaths of the Jain family at Bhandup, as the police were unable to question any of their immediate relatives, who all have gone to Rajasthan to cremate the bodies.

On Friday morning, 25-year-old Dinesh Jain, a grocer, killed his wife Monika and daughters Harsha (3) and Toshika (9 months), before killing self at their flat at Jalaram Park in Bhandup.  

“Jain’s elder brother and parents had gone to Udaipur for a religious event when the incident happened. We hope they would be able to provide us some clues on Jain’s motive behind the act. However, as all the relatives of the family have gone to Rajasthan for the victims’ funeral, we have not been able to speak to anyone,” said senior police inspector Vilas Shinde.  

Jain had reportedly smothered Monika with a pillow, strangled the children with ropes and then hanged himself. “Initially there were rumours that Jain had poisoned his children but there was no sign of frothing at the mouth which is characteristic of poisoning. The post-mortem report confirmed that the family had died due to suffocation,” said Shinde.  

Besides a case of accidental death, the police have also registered a murder case. They have recorded the statements of some neighbours and Jain’s uncle who had helped break open the door on Friday. But they are yet to find anything substantial in the statements that will give the investigation a direction.