JAGATSINGHPUR: Driven by poverty, a 55-year-old man allegedly killed his wife and daughter before ending his own life in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district in the wee hours of Saturday.
The deceased were identified as Lokanath Pal, his wife Kalpana (50) and daughter Madhusmtia (20) of Jota Chandpatana village.
Sources said Lokanath, who worked as a mason, was living in extreme poverty due to lack of construction work during the lockdown period.
Unable to feed his family members due to financial constraints, he was under tremendous stress. They were even finding it difficult to arrange for two square meals a day leading to family disputes on many occasions. While his wife was a paralytic patient, his daughter was studying Plus III in a private women's college.
According to some locals, Kalpana had an argument with Lokanath over daily expenses as he was unable to give her medicine. Being aggrieved, he attacked his wife and daughter with a crowbar injuring them critically.
Though both the woman and her daughter were shifted to district headquarters hospital, Madhusmita died while undergoing treatment at the DHH. Kalapana succumbed to her injuries on the way to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack.
Later, Lokanath ended his life by hanging himself with a rope from the ceiling of his house.
After being informed, local police reached the spot and sent the injured persons to local hospital and the body for postmortem. Preliminary investigations revealed that he took the extreme step after quarrelling with wife.
Sarapanch of Odiso Panchayat Ahalaya Sethy said Lokanath was very upset due to poverty as he did not find any work during the lockdown. He was unable to maintain his family due to paucity of funds leading to quarrels with family members. Harassed, he might have committed the crime and suicide, she added.
Sources said Lokanath's son is separated from the family and staying in Bhubaneswar for the last five years after marrying a girl from a lower caste.
Meanwhile, his brother Sankar Pal has lodged an FIR in a local police station following which police have registered a case.
IIC of Jagatsinghpur police station Pravash Sahoo said police have recovered the bodies of the man and his daughter along with the blood stained crowbar and rope. A family dispute over poverty is being suspected as the cause behind the double murder and suicide. A forensic team has visited the spot and further investigation is on, he added.