Ghaziabad: Man injures self after murdering wife, minor son

The deceased woman and boy’s bodies have been sent for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death

A 42-year-old man killed his37-year-old wife and 10-year-old son at their house in Ghaziabad on Thursday afternoon, police officers aware of the matter said. The man also tried to die by suicide by slitting his throat but survived the attempt and is under treatment at a hospital, they added.

The 40-year-old man ran a departmental store in Una that shut down due to financial crisis. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The family is originally from Una in Himachal Pradesh and has been living in Ghaziabad’s Mahendra Enclave for the past 13 years.

“Around 1.45pm on Thursday, the 40-year-old man called his brother on the phone for help, saying that he was injured. The man’s brother informed their aunt because she lives nearby. She rushed to the 40-year-old man’s house and with the help of neighbours forced open the front door. They found the man lying injured on the floor, while his wife and son were lying in a pool of blood on the bed. The aunt and neighbours immediately rushed the man to the hospital and informed the police,” said Amit Tyagi, the local councillor from Mahendra Enclave.

The police said that they suspect that the incident occurred around 11am on Thursday, and the 40-year-old injured man called his brother for help around 1.45pm. Police officers said that the woman and child’s throats were slit with a sharp weapon.

“We found the man in an injured state while his wife and son were found dead. It appears that the man killed his wife and son and then tried to kill himself. We found a suicide note in a register in the house in which the man said he was sorry for allegedly committing the murders. The man in currently in a semi-conscious state and has confessed to the murders. Our teams are trying to collect evidence,” said Gyananjaya Singh, deputy commissioner of police (city).

The 40-year-old man ran a departmental store in Una that shut down due to financial crisis, said investigators.

“He had obtained a loan and pledged his house’s documents against it. Recently he applied for another loan of ₹25 lakh to repay the previous loan. The neighbours told us that some people visited his house often, possibly to demand repayment of the loan or for verification of the applied loan. We are investigating this,” said a police officer on condition of anonymity.

The deceased woman and boy’s bodies have been sent for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

“From the external examination, the nature of injuries suggests that they were inflicted with the help of a sharp-edged weapon,” the officer said.