Bengaluru, Jun 3: A 48-year-old man was arrested for allegedly murdering his 12-year-old son and is under investigation over his suspected role in his wife’s suicide at their residence in Vibhutipura, near HAL, in the wee hours of Sunday.
Police say Suresh Babu, a sales executive in a private company, had told them on Sunday morning that he and his family had entered into a suicide pact which went awry, with only his wife, Geetha Bai, 45 and their son Varun, 12, paying with their lives. The four-member family was in acute debt. Babu told police he too would have committed suicide had his 17-year-old daughter not raised the alarm, drawing neighbours who, he claimed, prevented the two of them from taking the extreme step.
However, a video of the happenings inside the residence surfaced on Sunday afternoon throwing Babu’s claims into doubt. The 3 minute, 47 second video was apparently shot by Babu’s teenaged daughter.
The video shows Suresh forcefully hanging Varun from the ceiling fan as Geetha and her daughter wail and move around. The girl is heard pleading in Marathi with her father to leave her brother alone. Babu is later seen sitting next to Varun while the boy lies on a bed, arms and legs flailing. This has raised suspicion that he was first smothered to death and then tied to the ceiling fan. The video ends abruptly and police conjecture that Geetha snatched the phone from her daughter’s hand.
“Babu’s 17-year-old daughter filmed her father on her mobile phone forcefully hanging her brother,” said Abdul Ahad, deputy commissioner of police (Whitefield division). “She may have sent the clip to someone and later it went viral. Babu was arrested and is being interrogated.”
Seemanth Kumar Singh, additional commissioner of police (East) said a team headed by Ahad is probing the case. “Babu and his daughter are constantly changing their statements,” a police officer said. However, police say the girl appears to be in shock.
Police said the family is from the Maharashtra-Gujarat border region. Ahad said Geetha worked as a cook in a few houses and had run up Rs 5 lakh debt because of which she was dejected. She also ran a chit fund business.
On Sunday morning, Babu had told media that his wife had committed suicide over a financial issue.
Babu’s neighbours including his sister-in-law Vijaya confirmed the monetary problems the family faced. “We saw a few people coming in the night and talking to Geetha about money. We don’t have more information about it,” Vijaya said.
Police say the incident came to light around 2.30am when neighbours rushed in after hearing loud cries from Babu’s residence. Neighbours found both Geetha and Varun hanging from the ceiling fan.
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