A postmortem examination of two women and a teenage girl, whose bodies were discovered inside their home in Kolkata, has confirmed that they were murdered. On Thursday (Feb 20), police dismissed earlier speculations of suicide and alleged that they were just efforts to mislead the investigation.

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The shocking deaths of the three females came to light after a car carrying three male members of the same family crashed into a Metro Rail pillar in the early hours of Wednesday (Feb 19). Two of them have been identified as Pranay and Prasun Dey. One of the injured men told the police about the deaths at their home in Tangra, claiming that their family members had committed suicide.  

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Autopsy findings

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Three female members — two women and a minor girl — of the Dey family were found murdered in their home with grievous injuries.

City Police Commissioner Manoj Verma, after visiting the crime, told the press that they "noted cut marks on the throats and wrists of the two older women, and bruises on the lips and nose region of the minor girl."

An autopsy of the three deceased revealed that the two women, identified as Sudeshna and Romi Dey, had deep throat injuries and slit wrists, with their wounds determined to be "antemortem" (inflicted before death). 

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"Romi Dey had a single slash injury and both of her wrists were slit. The cause of her death is due to the effect of the antemortem injuries. The same was found on Sudeshna Dey's body," a senior police officer of Kolkata Police told news agency PTI.

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"The injuries were not self-inflicted in nature. They died around 36 to 48 hours before the bodies were found on Wednesday morning," added the officer.

Meanwhile, the teenage girl, Prasun Dey's daughter, was found to have died due to poisoning. The minor also had multiple bruises across her body, legs, and lips. A forensic examination of her stomach detected the smell of medicine, confirming the ingestion of a toxic substance.

The three victims were murdered within "three to six hours after they had their last meal", said the police. 

Murder case filed

The local police have lodged a murder case against unidentified people. Pranay and Prasun Dey are suspected of having an "active role" behind the deaths.

"The two brothers claimed that the three died by suicide. They tried to mislead our investigators. We suspect that they had an active role behind these deaths," said a police officer. 

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A team was also probing the accident near Abhishikta crossing on EM Bypass which happened when the two men along with the minor were trying to "flee," he said.  

The Dey family ran a tannery business and were reportedly struggling financially. Forensic experts have collected evidence from the house, with key samples "mainly from the dining room and the bathroom area where bloodstains were discovered".

(With inputs from agencies)