Family of four found buried on top of each other in Kerala's Idukki district; police suspects witchcraft

Bodies of four members of a family were found stacked on top of one another and buried in a pit in the backyard of their house in Kerala’s Idukki district, four days after they reportedly went missing. [caption id=“attachment_4486391” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] The bodies bore injury marks, police said. Police identified the deceased as Krishnan (52), his wife Susheela (50), their daughter Arsha (21) and son Arjun (19). Neighbours said they had not seen the family for four days. A report on news agency PTI quoted the police as saying they could have been killed after 29 July. The deceased lived in a secluded place in a rubber estate at Mundanmudi. Neighbours and some relatives went to the house on Wednesday morning and found blood stains on the floor and the walls, and immediately informed the police. According to Hindustan Times, Krishnan was an astrologer and was into occult and black magic. Locals said many luxury cars used to frequent their house during nights and even some film artistes used to visit them. The police suspect witchcraft. According to NDTV, the police suspect witchcraft. The report said the police recovered a knife and hammer from the spot. The wounds on the bodies indicate the family may have been beaten with the hammer, the police said. Police said a search in the backyard revealed loose soil and when they removed it, the four bodies, with injuries, were found dumped on top of each other. The bodies have been shifted to Kottayam medical college for post-mortem. With inputs from PTI