HYDERABAD, April 3 A couple was found dead in mysterious circumstances in a one-room house in Dastagir Colony of Unit-11 Latifabad on Thursday night.

They were laid to rest on Friday in the local graveyard. Police, families of the couple and neighbours believed that Imtiaz first murdered his wife Shumaila and then committed suicide.

Shumaila`s body was lying on a cot while Imtiaz`s body was dangling from a ceiling fan when police and area people enter his house of after breaking it open.

He had used dupatta (scarf) of his wife to hang himself.

The landlady of the house had been demanding rent of two months after Imtiaz shifted there in January from his parent`s house located in a nearby locality Amani Shah Colony. Imtiaz did not have any regular job.

He did odd jobs for a living. Imtiaz who had married to Shumaila three years ago had left a chit beside him. It said that the box which held some of his and his wife`s goods should be handed over to his elder brother Ausaf.

Police said that a book on wizardry was also found nearby him.

He had also left a message for another brother, Intikhab Hussain, saying “you would see that my soul will visit you daily while that of Shumaila once in a week,” according to SHO of A-section Nazim Rao who quoted the line from the chit.

Imtiaz had had detained himself in the house for the past four to five days and the room was locked from inside when some children noticed the bodies through holes in the entrance and informed area people.

An electric wire seemed to have been used in throttling Shumaila to death. The marks of wire were visible around her neck.

Police also opened the box in the presence of people of the locality.

According to Intikhab Hussain, Shumaila`s parents lived in Unit-11 Latifabad and she also belonged to a poor family.

But he avoided sharing more details, saying he had gone outside the house for work when he came to know about the incident.

“Give it up now. What can we do now?”, he said.

No post-mortem was conducted as the family did not express their suspicion against anyone.

The bodies were buried in Amani Shah Colony`s graveyard on Friday afternoon.