Father and Three Children Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide in Impoverished Rajasthan Village

Rajasthan— In a heart breaking incident that shook people to their core, four bodies including a father, and his three young children were found hanging by the ceiling of their home in Kotra village of Udaipur district on Tuesday noon. Kotra is a remote and impoverished village in South Rajasthan, inhabited by the tribal community. The bodies were identified as Raiysa (45) Vajpai (15) Tipuri (12) and Kinjal (4). Prima Facie it is being believed that the father killed the three children before committing suicide. 

The family was struggling to make ends meet as Raiysa was the sole bread earner of the family who ran a very small grocery shop in a part of his small hut, police said. He was also to the sole care taker for his three children after his wife's death four years ago. Raiysa's elder brother too had died some time back. Villagers said that despite his best efforts, Raiysa found it difficult to provide for his family due to the financial stress they were under. The incident took place on Monday late night and it was known only on Tuesday noon when a boy who had gone to the grocery counter received no responses to his calls. When he peeped inside the adjacent room, he saw the bodies hanging. The police were immediately informed and the FSL team was pressed in. 

The villagers were devastated by the news. The police that Raiysa perhaps had been struggling with depression for some time. The family was under  financial pressure, with Raiysa having taken a loan that he struggled to repay every month.

The police found burnt papers in one corner of the hut, suggesting that Raiysa may have been under considerable stress and was struggling to cope with the mounting debts. The rope used to hang the family had been recently purchased and cut into four pieces, indicating that Raiysa may have killed his children and hung them, before taking his own life.