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'Night shift' fear drives man to kill family, self

Last Updated 28 June 2011, 19:30 IST
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N Murthy, an employee at the Mico Naganathapura pla­nt, poisoned his 35-year-old homemaker wife Laxmi and their two sons Yashash (12) and Rohith (9) and sm­othered them to death before ending his life by hanging at his house at Aishw­arya Layout in Electronic City.

What led him to take the ex­treme step when there was, reportedly, no financial and personal issues, is unk­n­own. However, the death no­te left behind by Murthy suggests that he was upset over his boss’s decision to increase his workload and put him on night shift.

Yashash and Rohith were si­xth and fourth standard students, respectively, of St Fr­ancis School,Hongasand­ra. Their bodies were found in one bedroom while Laxmi was lying in the adjacent room.

According to neighbours, Murthy returned home by 2 pm on Monday after work and went for his usual stroll  after dinner.

Murthy, who was drawing more than Rs 40,000 per month, had his own house and his parents used to visit them.

The couple had reportedly sent SMSs at night to their family members. But it was only around 7 am, Krishna, one of the brother’s sons, who happened to lay his hands on the cell phone, read it and rushed to Murthy’s house.

When there was no response, he raised an alarm and with the help of neighbours, they broke the window glass only to find Murthy’s body hanging from the ceiling and others lying dead.

The police, who reached the spot later, broke open the window bolt and shifted the bodies to Victoria hospital. The couple left a three-part, two-page death note written in Kannada and addressed to brothers, in-laws and a general one.

According to it, Murthy was upset from June 24 after his boss informed him about the workload and his plan to shift him from gear division to the testing department. The decision to put him on night shifts was more depressing for  him.

However, his colleagues, who thronged the house and mortuary, were not ready to buy the suicide theory.

Jayanna, who has been working with Murthy for more than a decade, told Deccan Herald: “I don’t see any reason for him to commit suicide. He had everything, good family, job, etc.  Not a single day, he had cribbed about anything. He was quiet  and never had a tiff with anyone. He hardly attended family functions, but was an active member of Kannada Sangha and was involved in many social activities.”

In-laws drop hint

In the death note addressed to Narashimaiaha, Laxmi’s father, Murthy had said: “As per your daughter’s wish, I ‘killed’ her and we are forced to end our lives and please forgive us.”

“I find something fishy as Murthy had a spilt personality. Though many a time, my daughter mentioned about it, we snubbed her and requested her to take it in her stride and look after the kids,” he said in tears.

There were no injury marks and the chances of forcible killing is ruled out. “The kids were killed when they were asleep. Food is also not digested and traces of cyanide or strong poison is suspected. We have sent  food samples for analysis.

“Only after getting the report, we can come to a conclusion. As of now, a case of triple murder is booked against Murthy and an unnatural death case is taken up,” said a senior police officer.

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(Published 28 June 2011, 19:30 IST)

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