The decomposed bodies of two young siblings were discovered inside their locked apartment in MMDA Colony, Maduravoyal on Wednesday morning after residents complained of a foul smell emanating from the house.
The father of the children, a lawyer, is missing.
Maduravoyal police identified the victims as Priyadharshini (13) and her brother Prabhu (12), who lived with their father Ravi (40) in their second-floor flat of the TNHB apartment complex. Ravi and his wife Maheswari, also an advocate, had separated and the children were in the custody of their father.
On Tuesday morning, residents complained of the foul smell and a police team arrived and broke open the door to find the bodies of the children in the bedroom, with the air-conditioner and television on.
The cause of the deaths remains unknown.
Residents told police that Ravi left on Thursday after locking the flat from outside and his mobile phone could not be reached.
They also said that he had not sent the children to school for almost a year now and often locked them up inside the flat even if he went out of station for a few days to avoid them having any contact with the neighbours.
The bodies were sent to the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for post-mortem and police are attempting to contact the children’s mother while a search is on for their father, police added.
