In a gruesome example of how far superstition can drive a person, a Pune resident killed his wife and three children before taking his own life in the early hours of Thursday morning. The man had been speaking about being a victim of black magic, and is believed to have taken the extreme step out of this irrational fear.
According to the Kothrud police, the man, Parshuram Kalkanthi (30), lived with his wife Jamuna (25), daughters Payal (7) and Manisha (5), and son Karan (3) in Lokmanya Nagar, Kothrud. The couple worked as construction labourers.
At around 3 am on Thursday, Parshuram’s brother Sharnappa left his house — a few metres away from Parshuram’s — to use the public toilet in the locality, and smelled smoke. Following the direction of the smell, he went to a dumping ground in the area and was shocked to see Parshuram writhing on the floor with his body on fire. Manisha was lying partially burnt next to him. He immediately raised an alarm and ran to his house, where he was in for a further shock. Jamuna, Payal and Karan were lying on the floor motionless. All five were rushed to a municipal hospital where they were declared dead before admission.
“Parshuram had recently been telling his relatives that he was a victim of some black magic, and was going to die soon. He refused to elaborate on the reason behind his belief, but appeared very firm. No financial or marital problems have come to light and this seems to be the only reason behind his extreme step,” said Kalyanrao Vidhate, police inspector, Kothrud police station. Post-mortem reports have revealed that while Parshuram and Manisha died of burns, Jamuna, Payal and Karan were strangled to death. Parshuram has been post-humously booked for murder, the police said.