49-year-old Jitendra Lad, stabbed his wife, Dakshaben Lad (44), and two daughters, Trisha (19) and Nisha (16), on 25th October 2014, just a few days after Diwali. He then lived with their bodies over the weekend before hanging himself. Their bodies were discovered at their home in Bradford.
The Lad family were described as the ideal family by those who knew them.
During the hearing, the coroner described the event as a “scene of unimaginable horror.”
Bradford Coroner's Court was informed that Lad had been seen by a number of people during the same weekend when the events took place, which gives the indication that he probably committed suicide two days later, on the Monday afternoon.
Further revelation were made in court that Lad did not have a medical history of mental illness.
However, Detective Sergeant Duncan Jackson told the hearing in Bradford that Jitendra Lad had searched the internet on his phone in the weeks before his death regarding depression, also researching about “how to cut someone's throat and executions”, just days before the adversity.
The court also heard that Lad, who worked as an IT manager, was stressed and felt that he may have been over-promoted. Lad had also told a woman on holiday, two months before his death about being unhappy with his life and about turning 50.
But Bradford Coroner Martin Fleming said it was 'impossible to reconcile' what Mr Lad - the head of a 'normal happy family' did with what he knew about him.
Recording a verdict of suicide on Jitendra Lad and unlawfully killing on the other members of his family, Bradford Coroner, Martin Fleming expressed, “We will never know for sure what was going through Jitendra's mind at that time.”
A statement by Lad's brother, Raman Lad, was read to the court. “There was nothing about the family that was anything other than normal and close. I can think of no reason at all for what's happened. They were just a normal and happy family.”
