Melbourne: An Indian-origin family of four, including two children, was found dead here on Tuesday and 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 dead 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 stressing that no suspects are being sought.
"Everybody is devastated," said Abhay Singh, an 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," Mr Singh said.
"It is shattering," he said.
The children hadn't been seen at school for two days before worries for their wellbeing turned into a phone call to the police to check up on them.
Singh recalled how the family was recovering well from a car crash last year.
Singh said the couple did not have marriage problems and he believed they died from a leaking gas tank.
"It's a mystery," he said.
Post-mortem examinations will be undertaken tomorrow to confirm causes of death.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, May 01, 2012, 18:39