NEW DELHI, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Five members of a family have committed suicide in the southern Indian state of Telangana after being allegedly branded as sorcerers by relatives and neighbors, a senior police official said Monday.
The tragic incident took place in remote Kondapur village near Huzurabad town of Telangana's Karimnagar district late Sunday night.
"A couple and their three daughters ended their lives by hanging themselves from the ceiling of their house. Their bodies were discovered by neighbors this morning," local police official Ramana Murty told the media.
The family took the extreme step as the man was depressed after being recently beaten up by local villagers and their relatives for allegedly practising witchcraft, another official said.
Police said the couple first helped their daughters end their lives and then they killed themselves. "Their bodies have been sent for an autopsy and we will get a clear picture once we get the results," the police official said.
A probe has also been ordered into the incident, he added.
