Upset over desertion by wife, man murders daughter, 2 relatives before killing self

Frustrated over desertion by his wife, a man shot dead three people, including his daughter, before taking his own life in Magalur village of Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru district on India.

The accused has been identified as Rathnakar, a school van driver.

After killing the victims, he went to an isolated place and shot himself on Tuesday night.

Rathnakar killed his seven-year-old daughter, Moulya, his 50-year-old mother-in-law, Jyothi, and his 26-year-old sister-in-law, Sindhu.

According to police, Rathnakar was deeply disturbed by his wife's desertion.

Enraged by this, he barged into his in-laws' house during the 'Hosa Toduku' festival celebration and shot dead his daughter and two others.

Sindhu's husband was also injured in the attack, sustaining a gunshot wound in his leg. He has been admitted to a hospital in Balehonnur town.

Police have recovered a video recorded by Rathnakar before committing the crime. In the video, he claimed that he could not bear the pain of his wife leaving him. He also expressed how much his daughter's happiness, joy, and love meant to him.

"In school, my daughter's friends ask her about her mother's whereabouts. She comes home and asks me, 'Where is my mother?' Without my knowledge, she took a photo from our album and showed it at school," Rathnakar stated in the video.

He further claimed that he had informed his family of his decision. "It has been two years since my wife betrayed and deserted me," he added.

Preliminary police investigations revealed that Rathnakar’s wife had left him and their daughter and moved to Bengaluru. Rathnakar had enrolled his daughter in the same school where he worked as a school vehicle driver.

On the occasion of the festival, his mother-in-law, Jyothi, took Moulya from school to her house to celebrate.

It is suspected that Rathnakar assumed that his estranged wife had returned from Bengaluru and planned to kill her. However, in a fit of rage, he ended up killing his daughter, his in-laws, and then himself, police said.

The Balehonnur police are investigating the case.

Indo-Asian News Service