A 65-year-old factory worker attacked his wife and daughter with a hammer when they were asleep at Sherpur Kalan village in Ludhiana district on Friday morning, nine days before his daughter’s wedding.
Police said his 60-year-old wife died on the spot, while his 30-year-old daughter succumbed to injuries at a local hospital in the afternoon.
After committing the crime around 6am, the accused locked the house and fled before calling up his nephew at 7.45am. He told him that he was going to end his life by jumping into the Sidhwan canal near Doraha. He said the nephew could go and check what he had done at his house and even told him where he had hidden the house keys.
The reason behind his taking the extreme step is yet to be ascertained.
The police recovered the hammer from the house and found his scooter near the canal.
Search launched for accused
A search is on for the accused and the services of divers have been requisitioned.
{{/usCountry}}A search is on for the accused and the services of divers have been requisitioned.
{{/usCountry}}His nephew said: “I tried to convince my uncle to change his mind and return but he was adamant. I informed the villagers and we opened the gate in the presence of the police. We were shocked to find the mother dead and the daughter unconscious in their rooms.”
Inspector Pramod Kumar, the station house officer Moti Nagar police station, said that the daughter was rushed to hospital, where she died. He said the wife was attacked first after which the accused hit the daughter with the hammer.
Additional deputy commissioner of police Rupinder Kaur Saran said the reason behind the crime is being investigated.
The wedding was fixed on February 21 and the family had sent a formal invite to the groom’s family in Rupnagar on Thursday. The bride was a postgraduate and had done well in her IELTS exam. She was to take the prelims exam of the Punjab Public Service Commission on Saturday.
The accused used to work as a mason before he got a job in a forging mill in Ludhiana’s Focal Point.
Similar crime involving realtor in November
Ludhiana had witnessed a similar crime on November 24, 2020, when a 60-year-old realtor murdered his 58-year-old wife, 35-year-old son, 32-year-old daughter-in-law and 12-year-old grandson with an axe and knife before fleeing in his car only to set it ablaze 4km from his house. A suicide note recovered from the house said he had taken the extreme step as his daughter-in-law used to threaten to implicate him in a fake dowry case. The realtor said in the note that the family members of his daughter-in-law had not returned his money and were trying to extort more from him by threatening him with false charges. On the same day, he committed suicide by jumping before a train in Jagraon.