The bodies of four members of a family that was reportedly missing were found stacked on top of each other in a pit in their house in Kerala's Idukki district.

The police found the bodies of a man and his wife - both in their 50s - along with their two children, who were 21 and 18 years old, in the compound of the house, an officer said on Wednesday. The police were called in by the neighbours of the family, who had said that they had not seen the family for the past four days.

The police were informed after the neighbours and some relatives of the family went to the house on Wednesday morning and found thblood stains on the floor and walls, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

The man and his wife have been identified as Krishnan and Susheela, while their 21-year-old daughter and 19-year-old son have been identified as Arsha and Arjun respectively, police said.

"The father had a rubber plantation but also appeared to have practiced witchcraft. We still have not been able to find the cause and means of death. We are probing all angles to the death, including witchcraft", police sources told NDTV.

A hammer and a knife were also found in the house, police sources told NDTV.

While the postmortem result is awaited, sources say wounds indicate as if the bodies were badgered with something, possibly a hammer. The family could have been killed after July 29, police told PTI.

The decomposed bodies were recovered from the pit dug at the rear of the house, police said. The bodies were positioned one over the other. Neighbours have allegedly told the police that the family largely kept to themselves.

The bodies have been shifted to Kottayam medical college for post-mortem, police said.

PTI