A woman and four children were found brutally murdered in Karnataka's Mandya district on Sunday, February 6. The victims have been identified as 26-year-old Lakshmi, her sons Raju (12), Komal (7), and Kunal (4), as well as Govind (8), the son of her brother-in-law. They were found dead in their residence in KRS village in Srirangapatna taluk.

The neighbours raised the alarm on Sunday morning after they found the bodies inside the house. They had gone to check when no sound was heard from the house and none of the residents of the household had stepped out in a while. The police have registered a murder case. Investigations to identify who committed the crime and the motive are on.

According to preliminary information, police suspect that the murder took place sometime on Saturday night. The bodies have been sent for postmortem and further details are awaited. Forensic experts and a canine squad were also sent to the crime scene to gather clues.

The deceased woman’s husband Gangaram and her brother-in-law Ganesh are traders, who deal in flowers, and were out of station when the crime took place, police officials said.

Senior police officials, including Inspector General of Police (south) Praveen Madhukar Pawar and Mandya Superintendent of Police N Yatish, visited the crime scene. Speaking with TNM, SP Yatish said, “We are yet to ascertain the motive of the crime.” He added that Ganesh’s wife was also out of town when the murders took place.

Meanwhile, less than a week ago, a man had allegedly killed his former wife in the district. In Mandya taluk, 32-year-old Shalini was found dead with her throat slit at her residence in Ragimuddanahalli village. Police had said that Shalini was hit with a boulder before her throat was slit.