BENGALURU: A 34-year-old driver killed his 68-year-old grandmother, 55-year-old mother and 50-year-old maternal uncle before dying by suicide at their residence in Kottigepalya in Kamakshipalya police limits on Saturday.
Some relatives claimed that the accused, C Prashanth, suffered from mental health issues, but his father denied it. The bodies of the two women were found on the doorstep of the house lying on top of each other.
His uncle was found dead outside one of the rooms in the house. The house owner and neighbours heard loud screams in the morning and rushed towards the house.
Prashanth, who was trying to escape, rushed back home, and locked himself inside one of the rooms. By the time the police arrived, he had hanged himself inside the room using a veil.
The police have not found any suicide note. The police got an alert around 8.30 am. They suspected that Prashanth might have murdered his grandmother Nagamma, a sweeper, mother Mangalamma, a garment factory worker, and his mother’s brother Satish, a plumber, around the same time.
Exact motive behind murders yet to be ascertained
Satish and Prashanth were not married. Prashanth, along with his father Chikkanna, a launderer, and the three victims, was staying in the same house. He has used a lethal weapon, suspected to be a machete, to hack his three victims to death. The attack on his grandmother was so brutal that her face was disfigured.
Chikkanna told reporters, “When I left home for work around 6 am, everyone was still sleeping. Around 10 am, I got a call from a friend about the horror at our home. I don’t know what happened after I left. On Friday night, after having dinner, all of us including Prashanth went to sleep.
There was no fight or argument in the house. My son was fine and it did not seem that he had any problem. If I was there in the house, even I would have been murdered. Prashanth loved his mother a lot, but he had rage issues.
There were minor arguments in the house over food earlier. I found my son to be mentally sound. If he had mental health issues, it would have been difficult for him to work as a driver.”
Chikkanna also has two daughters, who are married and staying with their spouses.
Members of a family who stay in the same building said they came rushing down after hearing the screams and found the bodies of the two women at the doorstep of the house lying on top of one another. Chikkanna’s family stayed in the rented accommodation near the Ayyappa Swamy temple at Kottigepalya for the last eight years.
They are from Byaladakere village in Magadi taluk. It is suspected that Prashanth might have had an argument with one of the victims. During the heated argument, he must have murdered his three family members, the police suspected.
“We are checking the claims made by his other family members about his mental health issues. The exact reason behind the murders is not yet known,” said an officer.