A man allegedly killed his wife and three daughters in Bihar’s Khagaria district before committing suicide during the early hours of Wednesday.

His two sons escaped while he was on the killing spree.

The incident occurred around 1.30am at Ekania village under Mansi police station. The person, who allegedly committed murders and then hanged himself, has been identified as Munna Yadav, 40.

According to police, Munna was accused of murdering a landlord in his village in October 2022 and was absconding since then. He used to visit home sometimes but his wife Pooja Devi, 36, always asked him to surrender and that used to lead to quarrels between the two.

There was a quarrel probably on the same issue when Munna came home on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday. His sons Ankit Kumar, 12, and Aditya Kumar, 10, who managed to escape had confirmed that there was a fight between his parents.

“Our father came around midnight and started quarrelling with our mother. My brother, three sisters and I were sleeping on the terrace. We did not understand what was the issue behind the fight, but father suddenly killed mother with a dabia (a chopper kind of farm tool),” said Ankit.

“He (Munna) then came to the terrace and started attacking our sisters. We became afraid, jumped down from the terrace and ran away. We hid ourselves some distance away and returned home in the morning,” Ankit added.

The villagers saw Munna hanging dead from a tree outside his house in the morning and discovered the bodies of his wife Pooja and daughters Suman Kumari, 18, Aanchal Kumari, 16, and Roshni Kumari, 15 inside the house.

Khagaria superintendent of police Amitesh Kumar visited the spot and ordered an investigation into the alleged killings and suicide.