PATNA: A businessman in Bihar’s southern Rohtas district on Thursday shot dead his two daughters, aged 15 and 12, and tried unsuccessfully to slit the throat of his wife before escaping.
Police said Lalit Narayan Singh, who ran a business of selling mobile phone connections, was severely depressed over mounting debts.
“Singh was apparently finding it difficult to repay the debt he had taken to run his business. He was also having difficulties in taking care of his family due to a financial crunch. This is why he suffered from acute depression,” said Akram Ansari, SHO of Bikramganj police station, citing findings of the preliminary investigation.
A suicide note Singh left in his rented house at Bikramganj suggested that he also planned to kill himself, said a police official.
The bodies of his two daughters – Tanu, 15, and Tanya, 12 – were recovered from the house and sent for autopsy. “The accused apparently shot the two girls dead with his licensed pistol. Investigations are on,” said Niraj Kumar, the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Bikramganj.
Singh’s only son, Ashirvad, 7, escaped as he had left for an aunt’s house in Bhojpur district some days ago. According to a statement given to police by Singh’s wife, Gudiya Devi, 35, she was attacked when she was asleep in her bedroom.
“Gudiya Devi was attacked with a knife by her husband at about 3 am when she was asleep. She woke up, cried aloud in horror and fled to a neighbour’s house,” said an investigating officer. A seriously injured Gudiya Devi was rushed to a private hospital at Bikramganj, where she is struggling for survival, he added.
Police were informed of the attack on Gudiya Devi by the neighbour. By the time a police team reached Singh’s house, he had left after shooting his two daughters dead.
A manhunt has been launched to arrest Singh who hails from Bhojpur district. “The exact cause of his actions would be known after he is arrested,” said the SDPO.