An elderly couple and their only son were found hanging in three rooms in their flat in a building off Garia Station Road, not far from Patuli, on Wednesday afternoon.
Police said Swapan Maitra, 75, Aparna Maitra, 68, and their son Suman Raj Maitra, 39, lived in an apartment on the second floor of a building that has 15 flats.
A foul smell from the Maitras’ apartment prompted the neighbours to alert the police.
The door was broken open and the decomposed bodies of the three occupants of the two-bedroom flat were found hanging.
“Suman Raj was hanging near the dining area, close to an open kitchen, while his parents were hanging in the two bedrooms,” said an officer of Narendrapur police station, under whose jurisdiction the area falls.
The police suspect the Maitras died about four days ago.
The bodies have been sent for post-mortem.
“It could be a suicide pact or a suicide after killing the other two. We are not ruling out anything at this stage,” said a senior officer of the Baruipur police directorate.
The police said Swapan Maity was a retired engineer and his wife a homemaker.
Suman Raj was unemployed and the family was financially dependent on one
of their relatives, the police said.
The family had shifted to this flat around five years ago as tenants and purchased it recently, apparently with the help of the relative.
Deputy superintendent of police, enforcement branch, Baruipur police directorate, Mohit Mollah, said after visiting the spot that they had come across the Facebook profile of Suman Raj where he was “Live” on December 28.
“He mentioned a lot of things there (during the Facebook Live session). We are investigating all possible angles,” the officer said.
The 20 minute-plus video shows Suman Raj facing the camera and his parents sleeping in the same room in separate beds.
Suman Raj said he was “feeling harassed” and that he did not have the courage to continue any more. He said he had no friends or family to talk to and that he was a loner even in the neighbourhood.
During his speech, Suman Raj is often seen breaking down and wiping his tears.
The police said Suman Raj’s younger maternal uncle, Debasish Ghosh, was informed about the incident.
“He was possibly the last person who met the family, on December 28. He came to identify the bodies on Wednesday,” an officer at Narendrapur police station said.
An officer said no suicide note was found but the video on social media “hinted about harassment” and had a mention of “ending life”.
Suman Raj requested in his video that he or his family should not be treated as “mental patients”.
“As there is no specific name in the video, we have not started any specific case. There have been no complaints from the relatives of the deceased till now. An unnatural death case has been started,” said a senior officer of the Baruipur police.