The bodies of a young woman, her mother and four-year-old daughter were found in their apartment on Hyderabad's outskirts on Monday, police said. The young woman's estranged husband is the accused in the case.
Police suspect they were murdered three days ago in Gautaminagar in Cyberabad police commissionerate jurisdiction.
The crime came to light on Monday when neighbours alerted police about a foul smell emanating from the flat.
Police broke open the door to find Aparna, lying in the kitchen with head injuries. The bodies of her mother, Vijayalakshmi, and daughter Kartikeya were found on the bed. They were suspected to be poisoned.
"The girl was found with the nipple of a milk bottle in her mouth indicating that she had died while sucking poisoned milk," Madhapur Deputy Police Commissioner Viswaprasad was quoted as saying.
"Aparna's body was found near the door of the kitchen leading to the balcony. It seems like her head had been smashed with some heavy object. The bodies of Vijayalakshmi and Kartikeya were laying on the bed and it seems like they had poisoned to death before killing Aparna,” he added.
Aparna worked as a saleswoman in an electronics showroom in Chandanagar and was living separately from her estranged husband Madhu. She hailed from West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.
According to police, Aparna had last received a call on her mobile phone on Friday night. The three were believed to have been killed the same night.
According to relatives, Madhu and Aparna married six years ago and had a fight after Aparna learnt about his first marriage. The family of Madhu's first wife were also allegedly harassing her.
Madhu, who was reportedly hiding in a lodge, surrendered before the police after the murder came to light.
The police said that he confessed to his crime, and told them that he murdered Aparna because she was constantly harrasing him.
IANS inputs