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Indian-origin family of four found dead in Australia

May 01, 2012 20:46 IST

An Indian-origin family of four, including two children, was found dead in Melbourne on Tuesday. The Australian police are treating it as a murder-suicide case.

The bodies of Nilesh Sharma, 34, his wife Pritika, 32, five-year-old Divesh and three-year-old Divya were found at their Glen Waverley home in the city's eastern outskirts.

Nilesh, an accountant, was found in a hallway, the others in their bedrooms.

The Fijian-Indian family, which moved to Australia over a decade ago, had lived in Glen Waverley for at least two years and appeared to have been a normal, happy couple, Australian news agency AAP reported.

Police say the four deaths are being treated as a murder-suicide with officers emphasising that no suspects are being sought.

"Everybody is devastated," said Abhay Singh, uncle of the two deceased children.

Everyone had attended a family get-together on Saturday, he said, drinking, laughing, and socialising well into the night.

"They were a really lovely family, very reserved," Singh said.

The children hadn't been seen at school for two days.

Singh recalled how the family was recovering well from a car crash last year. He said the couple did not have marriage problems and he believed they died from a leaking gas tank.

"It is a mystery," he said.

Post-mortem examinations will be undertaken on Wednesday to confirm causes of death.

Natasha Chaku In Melbourne
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