Man found hanged after daughters and their mother discovered dead
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Version 0 of 1. A man has been found hanged near a reservoir in north-east London after the bodies of his two teenage daughters and their mother were found in a property nearby. Police discovered the bodies of the woman and the 13-year-old twins when officers visited a house in Chadwell Heath on Tuesday afternoon, triggering an urgent hunt for the girls’ father. The 44-year-old man was found at nearby Woodford reservoir, Walthamstow, on Wednesday morning and pronounced dead at the scene. Scotland Yard’s homicide and major crime command has launched an investigation into the death of the family, who were last seen on Sunday. The Metropolitan police said it had referred the case to the police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, because officers had attended the family’s house on Monday night “but there was no response and no signs of any disturbance”. The force said the women and girls had no signs of visible injuries but would not speculate on their cause of death. Postmortem examinations are due to be carried out later on Wednesday. DS Kenny McDonald, who is overseeing the investigation, said: “At this stage we are awaiting the outcome of the postmortems to confirm cause of death, which will provide further evidence of what has taken place inside the house. “However, at this stage in our ongoing investigation we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths. We are making extensive enquiries to trace next of kin, who we believe to be outside of the UK.” The family were named locally as mother Shigi Rethishkumar, father Pullarkattil Rethishkumar and girls Niya and Neha. The family lived on the ground floor of a housing block on Grove Road, Chadwell Heath, which has been cordoned off. Neighbours said it was an unprecedented incident for such a quiet area. One woman, Samantha Puholy, 45, said: “I’m very surprised. It’s not like someone broke in and did it ... so it’s very sad. It’s a safe and quiet neighbourhood. The girls had their whole lives ahead of them.” Students from the local school, Chadwell Heath Academy, said the girls were very quiet and always stuck together. Nafeesa Boodle, 14, said she used to see the girls in the school canteen. “They were quiet and always together. You’d never see them with other girls in the year. I guess they were sisters and really close.” Nafeesa’s mum, Samantha Boodle, 34, said police cordoned off the area around 4pm on Tuesday. “Where I live [down the road] everyone knows everyone, but in this block everyone’s quiet. I never see anyone go in or out.” • This article was amended on 14 May 2015. In the original we referred to the police watchdog as the Independent Press Complaints Commission. This has been corrected. |