35-year-old axes wife, 2 minor sons to death, dies by suicide

BHOPAL : A 35-year-old man allegedly hacked his wife and two minor sons to death with an axe at their home in Morena district before dying by suicide by jumping in front of a train late on Friday night.

Police are probing whether a month-long domestic dispute led to the killings.The incident took place in Kishanpur village under Basaiya police station limits. The victims were identified as Ravita Kushwaha, 32, and the couple’s sons, Aarav, 8, and Debu, 5. The accused, Balram Singh Kushwaha, was later found dead near the Shikarpur railway crossing.Police said neighbours became suspicious on Saturday morning after noticing that the house was locked from outside.

When they looked over the boundary wall, they found the bodies of the woman and the two children lying in the courtyard and alerted police. Police, along with a forensic team, reached the spot and collected evidence.The bodies have been sent for postmortem. Preliminary investigation revealed that Balram worked as a marble polisher in Bengaluru and had returned to the village about a month ago.During the investigation, police learnt that a video of Balram’s wife dancing during a Shrimad Bhagwat Katha in the village had allegedly been recorded by some youths and sent to Balram on WhatsApp.

Police said the couple had reportedly been quarrelling since then. Ravita had stayed at her parental home for some time and returned to her matrimonial home three days before the incident.Investigators are also looking into allegations that Balram objected to his wife going to the local market. Police said the exact sequence of events and the motive behind the killings are yet to be established. An FIR has been registered and further investigation is underway.