The quarrel between a middle-aged couple that led to the wife firing at the husband in their SUV on Friday was over their daughter’s marriage proposal, police have concluded.
The couple — M R Sairam (52) and Hamsa (47) — had strong disagreements over the marital alliance of their daughter, Vandhana (24). Hamsa had chosen a man for her daughter. The man and his family were scheduled to visit Hamsa’s house in HSR Layout on Saturday to meet Vandhana. But Sairam, who lives a few blocks away in Haralur, HSR Layout, objected to the proposal. Hamsa, known for her headstrong ways, was not willing to let go of the marital alliance, a senior police officer said. Vandhana lives with her mother and runs a play home in HSR Layout.
Hamsa had planned to conduct her daughter’s engagement and wedding in a lavish manner. Sairam objected again. The couple had a lot of ego issues and disagreed over almost every thing. Chinks appeared in their marriage about five years ago. Police learnt that Sairam had an extramarital affair that led to parting of ways, but the couple decided not to break up the marriage in the interests of their grown-up daughter. They wanted to stay as a couple until Vandhana got married.
A few years ago, Hamsa went to the HSR Layout police station and filed a complaint against Sairam. Since it was a family dispute, police summoned Sairam and counselled him before letting him off with a warning. Friday’s scuffle started at a restaurant in Chandapura, south Bengaluru, where the couple were having cocktail lunch. The argument continued in the SUV as they drove back to the city. Hamsa was at the wheel.
In a statement to the police, Hamsa said she shot at her husband in self-defence as he would have killed her otherwise. She said her husband initiated the fight by assaulting her in the car. She pulled out the loaded gun that she always carried in a holster. Sairam snatched it away but Hamsa was too gritty not to fight back. She snatched it back and fired at him.
Divya Gopinath, in-charge superintendent of police, Bengaluru Rural, said: “Preliminary investigation shows that a total of six rounds were fired inside the SUV. Our forensic and ballistics teams have secured six cases (cartridges) from the vehicle and the place where it was parked. Three bullets were retrieved from the victim’s abdomen by doctors at Sparsh Hospital. It would be too early to say what exactly happened inside the SUV. We are waiting for Sairam to recover and give a statement.” Hamsa, who also sustained injuries during the fight, has been admitted to a private hospital, but police have not yet arrested her.
Dr Sharanu Patil, Medical Director, Sparsh Hospital, said: “Sairam suffered bullet injuries but is recovering. He is still on the ventilator and needs to be monitored closely for another 48 hours.”