Cuttack, Jan. 24: Orissa police today started investigations into the unnatural deaths of a woman and her four daughters — suspecting it to be a case of suicide.

Kuni Sethi (39), the wife of Kailash Chandra Sethi, and her daughters, aged between 18 and four years, were found dead at Patasundarpur village under Govindpur police station, 20km from here today. The police arrived at the scene after being informed of the incident over the telephone by villagers around 4am.

“The mother and her daughters apparently died of poisoning somewhere between 11pm and 3.30am last night. But what lead to the extreme step is not known and is being investigated,” said Amitendra Nath Sinha, Cuttack rural superintendent of police, while talking to The Telegraph.

Preliminary probe has indicated that the mother had stopped cooking for the past three days, reportedly after she fought with her 45-year-old husband — a farmland labourer — who left his house for his “quota” of marijuana on Wednesday evening and returned about 11.3opm.

About 12.30am he called out to the neighbours to help him wake his wife and children, who were not opening the door for him. The villagers found the five, dead.

“There were always some quarrel in the family over Kailash’s lifestyle. But she never seemed suicidal,” said a shocked neighbour.

“We suspect that she killed herself and her children by using poison,” Sinha said. Police have registered a case of unnatural death and the bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

The husband has been detained for interrogation.