A man and his 12-year-old daughter were found dead at Kothamangalam in Kerala on Saturday.

According to police Manoj K (44) choked his 12-year-old daughter Anju Manoj to death inside a rubber plantation near their house and then hung himself from a teak tree nearby.

“Manoj was drunk while he died. He had fights with his wife Jolly yesterday over his drinking problems. So, he might have killed the daughter out of revenge against his wife. But we cannot confirm now, we have begun the investigation,” Kothamangalam CI VT Shajan told The News Minute.

Anju who was a Class 7 student at Fathi Matha School, Malipara, lived with Manoj along with her two elder brothers. Their mother Jolly had left home after her fights with Manoj.

“As per the statements given by neighbours and relatives, Manoj was cruel to his children and wife after drinking. It was Jolly who looked after the family after going for daily wage jobs,” CI said.

The father and daughter went missing on Friday night from their house. Since the boys were alone at home they did not inform anyone about them going missing.

“As the girl used to go for some night prayers, her brothers thought she might have gone for that. Next morning a few rubber-tapping workers saw their dead bodies in the plantation,” police said.

Manoj was hanging 400 metres away from Anju’s body, which was lying in a shed.

“Further details will be available only after the post-mortem,” the CI said.