Family's Mysterious Death Linked To 'Occult Suicide'; Vermillion Found On Their Foreheads

Authorities in India have launched an investigation following the alleged suicide of an entire family in the state of Telangana last week.

Police found the family of three — 42-year-old T. Srikanth Goud, his 38-year-old wife Anamika and the couple's unnamed 7-year-old daughter — on the first floor of their Vandanapuri Colony house in Ameenpur, Hyderabad, Thursday afternoon, The Times of India reported.

Srikanth, a software employee at IT company Tata Consultancy Services, was found hanging from the ceiling fan of a bedroom, police said.

Anamika, a private school teacher, and her daughter were found lying dead in another room "with froth around [their] mouth," which indicated that they may have been poisoned, according to Ameenpur circle inspector Srinivas Reddy.

Reddy believes they might have died between Jan. 18 and 19.

All three had "big vermillion" tilaks — traditional Hindu markings — on their foreheads, police said.

Authorities also found photo frames of gods that were turned toward the floor and walls of the scene.

Remnants of an "unknown pungent chemical in a glass" were later recovered and have since been sent for examination, Patancheru deputy superintendent of police Bheem Reddy was cited as saying in a more recent Times of India report.

Police were prompted to search the family's home after the couple's family members were unable to contact them since Wednesday.

A preliminary investigation revealed that Srikanth turned off the home’s surveillance cameras prior to the alleged suicide. Authorities also discovered that the software worker deactivated his social media accounts.

Footage taken before the deactivation showed that the family had lunch at around 1 p.m. Wednesday, with no visible signs of panic or distress seen in the couple, police said.

As no suicide note has been found thus far, authorities are still investigating the case.

Srikanth and Anamika did not face any personal or financial troubles, according to the couple's respective families. Their maid, who was asked not to come to work for two days on Jan. 16, said that she has never seen the two arguing.

While Srikanth and Anamika, who were from Shamirpet and Alwal, respectively, came from different communities, the couple had a "love marriage" in 2012 that was backed by the two's families.

There were suspicions that the deaths were part of an occult ritual, but neighbors claimed the couple was not religious, according to The News Minute.

Police are still analyzing the call details of two phones that were recovered from the scene. They are also waiting for the postmortem reports.

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.