Patna: A 30-year-old woman and her two minor daughters were found dead inside a room in Nawada on Monday morning, with police investigating both a possible murder-suicide and the possibility of an outsider being involved in the incident.The incident took place in Darzi Mohalla under Bundelkhand police station area of the district. The deceased were identified as Nida Khatun (30) and her daughters Sariya Khatun (3) and Sitara Khatun (4).According to police, family members broke open the door after it remained locked for a long time. Nida was found hanging inside the room, while the bodies of the two girls were found on a bed.Police said preliminary findings suggested that the girls may have been strangled before Nida allegedly hanged herself. However, the exact cause and circumstances of their deaths will be established only after the postmortem, they said.The condition of the bodies led family members and some local residents to suspect that the three may have been killed. Locals claimed Nida’s body was found close to the bed, raising the possibility that she may have been killed and later hanged to make the deaths appear to be a suicide. Police have not confirmed the claim.Nida’s mother-in-law, however, gave a different account, claiming that Nida killed her two daughters before taking her own life. She said Nida frequently had disputes with her husband, Mohammed Sajid, over issues concerning the children.Sajid reportedly went to Dubai for work around 11 months ago and is currently staying there. He and other family members have been informed about the incident.Bundelkhand SHO Dharmveer Kumar said police received information that a woman had died by suicide along with her two children.“We are also examining whether Nida strangled her daughters before taking her own life or whether an outsider was involved in the deaths,” he said.The SHO said the investigation was underway and further action would be taken after a formal complaint was received. He added that the autopsy reports would be crucial in establishing the cause and circumstances of the deaths.
