Bengaluru: Engineer kills wife, children; ends life

A31-year-old engineer ended his life after allegedly strangulating his wife and two daughters at his house in Whitefield here, police said on Thursday. The deceased have been identified as Veerarjuna Vijay, wife Hymavathi (29) and daughters — Moksha Meghanayana (2) and eight-month-old Shruti Sunayana, they said.

No suicide note was found, police said, adding, the reason behind taking such an extreme step by the man is yet to be ascertained.

Police suspects that he must have killed his wife and two daughters on July 31 and then died by suicide the same day by hanging himself from a ceiling fan.

The matter came to light on Thursday when Hymavathi’s brother visited her residence in Sathya Sai Layout. Despite knocking the door several times and when no one responded, he became suspicious and informed police, a senior police officer said. ”Our team reached the spot and broke open the door. We saw the man hanging from the ceiling fan while his wife and two daughters were found lying on the floor in the living room of the house. We also observed strangulation marks on the neck of the woman and the two children,” he said.

The man and his wife were incommunicado since the last few days which prompted Hymavathi’s brother to check on them, he added.

Preliminary enquiry revealed that Vijay first strangulated his wife and then his two daughters. After killing them, he ended his life by hanging himself from a ceiling fan, the officer said.

The couple had been married for over six years, police said.