Overview
- Lodge staff forced entry after noticing a foul smell on Tuesday, Aug. 25, and found two men hanging from a fan in the room and three women hanging in the washroom.
- The deceased were identified by police as Pallapu Sudhakar (36/50 reported in some accounts), Gogula Adilakshmi (36), Malleshwari (45), Sridevi (33) and Manikantha (15), and the family had checked into room No. 11 on July 28.
- Police registered a case, shifted the bodies to the government hospital in Srisailam for post-mortem examinations, and say investigators are probing the deaths from all angles.
- Preliminary police inquiries point to long-standing financial hardship and reported health problems within the family as possible reasons for a suspected suicide pact, and officers note two of the women were separated from their husbands while Sudhakar supported the household by driving an autorickshaw.
- Temple authorities and local officials have questioned the lodge’s extended stay rules after reports the family stayed nearly a month at a low-cost satram, and investigators say post-mortem results will be needed to confirm cause and any wider factors involved.