Bangalore LIC clerk, wife poison daughter, kill selves

New Bank Colony woke up to a rude shock on Sunday when they found that their friendly neighbour, 40-year-old Srinivas, had killed his daughter and wife and hanged himself in their rented accommodation.

Police say the killings took place late on Saturday night and they suspect Srinivas’s inability to cope with the death of his brother as the reason behind the suicide pact.

Srinivas, who was a clerk with Life Insurance Corporation, his wife Gayatri, 35, and daughter Poornima, 12, were found dead on Sunday morning. Srinivas had married Gayatri 13 years ago and Poornima, a Class V student, was their only child. The couple first poisoned Poornima and later Gayatri consumed it. Thereafter, Srinivas wrote a death note before hanging himself, police said.

Srinivas was on a month-long leave and stayed at home. Police ruled out any dispute between the couple. The incident came to light at 9am on Sunday, when one of their relatives suspected something fishy as their door remained shut late after sun rise.

Rukmini, Srinivas’s cousin who stayed in the same colony, realised the door was not latched and pushed it open to find Gayatri and Poornima on the floor and Srinivas hanging from the ceiling with a nylon rope.

In the death note that the police found, Srinivas said: “I and my wife decided to commit suicide, but we did not want to leave our daughter alone, so we poisoned her first and then Gayatri consumed it… No one is responsible for our deaths.”

The letter also mentioned that they had taken the extreme step as they were depressed, police said.

Preliminary investigation revealed that three years ago, Srinivas’s brother Mohan had allegedly committed suicide as he could not repay a loan he had taken from some private financiers.

After this incident, Srinivas became depressed and blamed himself for his brother’s death. He had told his relatives a couple of times that had he helped Mohan clear his debts, he would have been alive, police said.

The neighbours said the family was poor and had some financial problems. Poornima was a favourite among colony members. She was very friendly and used to visit all her neighbour’s houses after school.