A couple were found dead at home in Bhangar’s Chandaneswar, in South 24-Parganas, on Sunday morning.

Police suspect the man was murdered but are in the dark about the circumstances leading to the woman’s death.

Mosharraf Piyada, 45, who operated a motorised van for a living, and wife Shahanara, in her late 30s, were found dead in a room on the ground floor of their two-storey house. Their teenage son, who was the first to spot the bodies, was sleeping on the first floor.

“There were sharp cuts on the man. He was lying on a bed, while his wife’s body was found hanging from the ceiling in the same room,” a police officer said.

“There was a deep blow on the man’s head. His brains had spilled out. A blood-stained shovel was found in the room. It could be the murder weapon. However, only a forensic test can confirm that,” the officer said.

The woman’s body was found in a “partial hanging” position with her toes touching the ground. “The sari she was wearing was used for hanging,” the officer said.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, which will be conducted on Monday.

“The gate of the house was latched from inside, though it is still unclear whether the latch had been fixed from inside or outside,” said an officer at Chandaneswar police station said.

Three sons and a married daughter survive the couple. The police said they found that one of the sons was home on Saturday night.

The daughter, whose in-laws’ house is not far from where her parents lived, has reportedly told the police that she spoke to her parents on a video call on Saturday night.

“She told us her parents were sitting side by side during the video call and that nothing seemed unusual,” the officer said.

The son who saw the bodies and the daughter both have told the police that they suspect someone entered the house and killed their parents.

“Circumstantial evidence suggests Mosharraf Piyada was killed but the cause of the wife’s death could be ascertained only after the post-mortem report comes,” the officer said.