A man drowned his three daughters by sitting on their bodies in a water tank at Tadkol village of Banswada block in Telangana’s Kamareddy district on Friday, the police said.
According to the police, Mohammad Fayaz, who was also addicted to gambling, had been pestering his wife for money. “Though he works as a daily-wage labourer, he never used to give money to his family. Instead, he had been harassing his wife who does tailoring work to feed her family,” Banswada police officer P Mahesh Goud told Hindustan Times.
Quoting a complaint from his wife, the officer said on Thursday evening, Fayaz quarrelled with her demanding money for gambling. “He allegedly beat her and her four children – three daughters of 11, 9 and 7 years of age and a five-year old son indiscriminately. She went to her brother’s place in the same village,” he said.
On Friday morning, Fayaz went to his brother-in-law’s house to get his wife and children back to his home. But she said she would come back only if he earned money and gave up his habits.
“He promised her that he would start going to work again. He asked her to send the children along with him to the nearby dargah, where they would have lunch together. She believed him and sent them along with him. After some time, their son came back crying, stating that his father had beat him and his sisters again,” Goud said.
{{/usCountry}}“He promised her that he would start going to work again. He asked her to send the children along with him to the nearby dargah, where they would have lunch together. She believed him and sent them along with him. After some time, their son came back crying, stating that his father had beat him and his sisters again,” Goud said.
{{/usCountry}}Immediately, she and her brother, along with other family members, started searching for Fayaz and his three daughters. “At around 11 am, they found him coming out of the tank with wet clothes. When they asked him where the three daughters are, he did not respond properly,” the officer said.
Some farmers had spotted Fayaz going towards the tank with his daughters.
The family members called the police when they only found the girls’ footwear near the tank.
The police retrieved the three bodies and arrested Fayaz.
During interrogation, the police alleged Fayaz said he had drowned his daughters in the tank because he was angry with his wife. To make sure that the girls didn’t have a chance, Fayaz allegedly said that he sat on their bodies.
“We have sent the bodies for post mortem and are investigating. We have registered a case under Section 302 (murder) and also under Section 498-A (domestic violence) of Indian Penal Code,” Goud said.