Hyderabad: A jewellery workshop owner, Thota Srikanth Chary, 40, allegedly killed his two daughters Sravanthi, 10, and Sravya, 8, before dying by suicide, at their residence in Hasmathpet, Bowenpally police said on Friday. He also allegedly attempted to kill his wife Akshaya, but she foiled the attempt.
While the exact reason behind Srkanth’s decision is not yet known, police suspect financial issues could have forced him to take this decision.
Chary, his wife, two daughters, his mother Jayamma, sister Manju and her son Bhargav stay in the same house. On Thursday night after having food, Srikanth and his family slept on the first floor, while Jayamma, Manju and Bhargav slept on the ground floor.
Around 5 am on Friday, Akshaya woke up and found her husband and children lying in an unconscious state, Srikanth at the entrance, Sravanthi on the bed and Sravya on a sofa in the balcony.
Police also found a bottle with some unknown liquid in it, lying beside their bodies. Inquiries revealed that Chary has a shop at Secunderabad, where he did jewellery works. The business was not going well for the past few months. Jayamma also said that he looked very dull and lost.
“We thought that he was worried about the business and the financial situation. We said that we can slowly come out of it,” she said.
Akshaya, who is undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital, told police that sometime in the midnight, Srikanth woke up to drink water. She felt him trying to pour something in her mouth and she pushed him away. “ I do not know what happened after that, as I lost consciousness. After regaining consciousness, I found them,” she said.
Begumpet ACP V.V.S.. Ramalinga Raju said that prima facie findings indicate that Chary had strangled the children. Since he was a goldsmith, he has access to cyanide, which is used in jewellery works.
Bowenpally station house officer B. Lakshmi Narayana Reddy said that on a complaint from Jayamma, they have registered a murder case for the death of the children and a suspicious death case for Srikanth’s death and started a probe.
