The killer slit the victims' throats and then set their bodies on fire, police said
In a crime haunting in its brutality, four members of a family, including a six-month old baby girl, were murdered last night and their bodies set on fire in the courtyard of their home in a village in Rajasthan's Osian, about 50 km from Jodhpur city.
A 19-year-old man, who is related to the family, is suspected to be behind the murders and has been detained, police said.
The shocking crime has triggered a sharp attack by the Opposition BJP on the Ashok Gehlot government months before the Assembly polls. The BJP has also stressed that the crime took place in Jodhpur, the Chief Minister's home district.
According to police, the incident took place last night at Chaurai village. Local residents saw smoke coming out of the home of Punaram (55) and dialled the cops. On entering the family's home, they found the charred bodies of Punaram, his wife Bhanwri (50) and daughter-in-law Dhapu in the courtyard. Beside Dhapu's body was a horrifying black mass - the remains of her six-month -old daughter.
The family's source of income was farming, it is learnt.
Police said the killer appears to have murdered the four by slitting their throats, then pulled the bodies to the courtyard and set them on fire. The murders could be a fallout of personal enmity, police said, adding that they are probing every angle in their investigation.
A forensic team is camping at the crime scene and top district authorities, including Collector Himanshu Gupta and Jodhpur Rural police chief Dharmendra Singh are monitoring the situation in the area.
The BJP has torn into the Ashok Gehlot government over the Jodhpur incident. The state BJP unit raised questions over the law and order situation in the state. "If this is the state of law and order in the Chief Minister's home district, what will be the condition elsewhere?" the state BJP asked in a tweet.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, an MP from Rajasthan's Bikaner, alleged that as many as 17 rapes and seven murders are being reported in Rajasthan daily since the Congress government came to power.
Mr Meghwal said the blame for Rajasthan's law and order situation lies squarely on Mr Gehlot. "He keeps saying that legislators saved my government. So MLAs have now become all-powerful, what they want happens," he said.
The Union Minister was referring to the 2020 rebellion led by Sachin Pilot that almost brought down the Ashok Gehlot government.
The BJP's sharp attack on Mr Gehlot comes months before the Rajasthan Assembly polls, for which the Congress is trying to put up a united front.