BAREILLY: A 40-year-old man diagnosed as HIV positive was allegedly killed by his wife and in-laws in the Bhojipura tehsil of Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district, the Times of India reported.

The man was found dead under 'mysterious circumstances' at his in-laws house on Wednesday, where he had been living since he took ill a year and a half ago.

A police investigation revealed that the victim kept his illness a secret as he feared stigma, and had started undergoing counselling at an Anti-Retro Viral Therapy (ART) centre.

His wife and in-laws failed to provide a satisfactory reason behind his death and instead of alerting the police of the incident, they informed the victim's family of his death and began preparing for the cremation.

His family, upon reaching the victim's in-laws' house, informed police they had noticed injury marks on the victim's body.

A post-mortem report released on Thursday revealed that the man had been strangled to death and a case was lodged against the victim's wife, father-in-law and two other people.

Bhojipura police station Inspector JP Yadav said, "From the statement of the victim's family, it has become apparent that his wife and father-in-law were unable to bear the stigma of keeping an AIDS patient in their house, which perhaps may be the reason behind his murder."

Yadav said a murder case had been lodged against the victim's wife, father-in-law and two others but that no arrests had been made in the case yet.