HYDERABAD: A 36-year-old vice-president of a software firm allegedly murdered his wife and five-year-old son and later committed suicide at their flat in Madhapur. Though the incident may have taken place on Sunday, it came to light only on Wednesday.

Police claimed Manish Sao, vice-president (technology) of iMomentous at Madhapur, murdered his wife Sweta, 30, and son Yash, 5, before hanging himself at their flat (108) at Varuna block of My Home Navadweepa apartment complex at Madhapur.

The incident came to light when two of Manish’s colleagues went to his flat at around 11 am on Wednesday. “Manish last attended office on Thursday. Since Monday morning, his colleagues were trying to contact him over phone as a project required his attention. As his phone remained switched off, two of his colleagues went to his house to check if everything was alright,” Madhapur inspector K Narsimulu said.

On reaching Manish’s flat, one of his colleagues, Sriram sensed a foul smell emanating from inside. On the advice of his higher-ups, he immediately alerted Madhapur police who broke into the flat and found Manish, Sweta and Yash dead in the bedroom. The bodies were partially decomposed and police suspect the trio may have died about three days back.

“Sweta’s wrists were cut and Yash had a head injury. Their bodies were found lying on the bed. Manish’s wrists were also slashed and he committed suicide by hanging himself from the window grill in the bedroom with a rope. We suspect that he may have first killed Sweta by smothering her and then slashed her wrists. Yash may have tried to stop Manish and the latter appears to have killed the boy by banging his head against the wall. As the bodies are in a semi-decomposed condition, the exact cause of death could be ascertained only after the post-mortem examination,” the inspector said.

Manish was a native of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh and had been staying in Hyderabad since 2011. Police said marital problems could be the reason behind the extreme act. Sweta had lodged a domestic harassment complaint against Manish at the Madhapur police station two months back. Cops then counselled the couple and sent them away. After the incident, Sweta apparently stayed for a few weeks with her parents and returned to Hyderabad only recently.

Police did not find any suicide note and Madhapur inspector said they would have to examine Manish’s cell phone and email data. Separate cases were registered under sections 302 (murder) of IPC and 174 (suspicious death) of CrPC. The bodies were sent for post-mortem.