Frustrated of wife’s illness, elderly man attempts to kill her and take his own life

Senior citizen stabs bedridden wife multiple times, then attempts suicide in Mumbai. Couple stable in hospital. No arrest made yet.

A senior citizen in Kandivali stabbed his bedridden wife nearly eight times using kitchen knives and later tried to die by suicide in the early hours of Saturday. The couple is stable and recuperating at a hospital.

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The man, identified as Vishnukant Ballur, has been booked on charges of attempt to murder (section 307) of Indian Penal Code, police said. No arrest has been made yet.

The incident occurred around 3am at a plush apartment complex in Thakur village where Ballur, 79, and Shakuntala, 76, live, a police officer from Samta Nagar police station said.

“From what we understand he was frustrated with his life, especially because of her almost vegetative state. They both have been suffering from diabetes for the last two decades. While he could still walk with the help of a walker, the wife has been completely bedridden for years now,” the officer said.

The house help comes around 8 am and leaves around 7 pm, the officer said. “Once she has left, the husband is left to take care of his wife all by himself despite his own disability.”

Vishnukant tried to kill himself, but he couldn’t stab himself too deep, police officers said. “When the domestic help came in the morning, she found the house locked from inside. She knocked on the door but got no response. Scared, she ran out to call a couple of neighbors and a security person,” the police officer said.

Finally when Vishnukant opened the door, the house help and the guard saw Shakuntala lying in her bed in a pool of blood and her husband was bleeding too. Neighbours immediately took the couple to a nearby hospital and alerted the police.

The police officer said Shakuntala suffered injuries in the back of her head but is out of danger. In his statement to the police, Vishnukant said he first decided to end his own life but then thought no one would look after his wife once he was gone.

The Ballurs have one son who has been living abroad over the past 27 years. Vishnukant retired as a CEO of a multinational company two decades ago. “Since then, not only has his own health been on the decline, but his wife’s condition has also been deteriorating gradually,” the officer added.