CHENNAI: A 38-year-old man allegedly killed his seven-year-old daughter before attempting to kill himself in Alandur on Tuesday morning, after a fight with his estranged wife.
According to the police, Sathish, a resident of Ayanavaram, checked into a hotel around 11pm on Monday following an altercation with his wife, during which he allegedly threatened to kill his daughter. This led his wife, Rebecca to file a police complaint, since the man had a history of physically assaulting her, police said.
Fearing arrest, acting on the advice of his lawyer-friend, the man left his residence at Ayanavaram along with his daughter at night to stay at the hotel. Sathish had forcibly taken custody of his daughter, Steffi Rose, a Class II student, by threatening to kill the child if Rebecca denied him custody.
According to the St. Thomas Mount police, Sathish, who runs a sound service company, married Rebecca, a school teacher, eight years ago. The police said that in 2024, during an argument, Sathish had physically assaulted Rebecca, following which she lodged a police complaint, and Sathish was arrested and sent to judicial custody. The couple began living separately after the incident.
“On Monday, an argument broke out and Sathish threatened to kill Rebecca. A complaint was lodged at the Otteri police station and Sathish was contacted by the police to appear for an inquiry,” a senior police officer said. This prompted him to flee to the hotel from his residence, police added.
“Around 5am on Tuesday, he called his elder sister saying that he had killed his daughter and was going to kill himself. He gave her the location. She came to the hotel, went to the room and found Steffi and Sathish lying unconscious. She alerted the police who then reached the hotel,” the officer said.
Both Steffi and Sathish were rushed to the Government Royapettah Hospital where the girl was declared brought dead, and Sathish was admitted for treatment. “His condition is stable and he will survive,” the police said, adding that only after he recovers, he will be formally arrested.
(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on TN’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)