Representative image showing a police officer.
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Hyderabad: In a tragic incident in Andhra Pradesh’s Nandyal district, a man killed his three children by giving them poison-laced drinks before taking his own life.
Police identified the accused as Vemulapati Surendra 35, a resident of Thudumuladinne village in Uyyalavada mandal of Nandyal. Surendra allegedly gave his children Kavyasri, 7, Jnaneshwari 4, and Suryagagan 2 a drink mixed with poison and later hanged himself.
Surendra had married Maheswari 32 of Ramapuram village in Kolimigundla mandal eight years ago. He had been ailing for some time, and in August last year, his wife died by suicide.
Police said that on the night of December 31, Surendra made several calls to his friends to wish them a happy new year, with his last call recorded around 1 am. Preliminary investigation revealed that he mixed poison in milk for his youngest child and in soft drinks for the other two before ending his life.
On Thursday morning, Surendra’s mother, Krishnaveni, came to visit the children. When there was no response, she looked through a window and found all four lying lifeless. She alerted the police, who reached the spot and began a probe.
“Surendra mixed poison in cool drinks for his daughters and in milk for his son. After their deaths, he took his own life by hanging. When his mother arrived the next morning, she found all of them dead,” said Uyyalavada Sub-Inspector K Ramireddy.
Police suspect that Surendra, who was reportedly depressed since his wife’s death and struggling financially, took the extreme step under mental distress. A case has been registered, and an investigation is underway.