Mysuru: A Head Constable, working with Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) 5th Battalion in Mysuru, committed suicide after killing his four-year-old son at a lodge on Cottonpet Main Road in Bengaluru.

Police said the incident might have taken place on Saturday night after he checked in to the lodge and it came to light yesterday when the staff noticed his body and alerted the Police.

The deceased is 41-year-old M. Vishwanath, and his son four-year-old Samvith, who was said to be an autistic child. While Vishwanath’s body was found hanging from a ceiling fan, Samvith’s body was found on the bed.

Vishwanath is a native of Gundlupet in Chamarajanagar district and had married Bhavyashree, the daughter of retired Sub-Inspector P. Basappa, a resident of Nethajinagar in Mysuru 12 years back. Bhavyashree works as a lecturer at a private college. Vishwanath is Basappa’s brother-in-law and Bhavyashree was given in a marriage to him as Basappa had no male issues. Vishwanath was staying with his wife and child at Basappa’s house. A son was born to the couple four years back and the parents discovered that the child, Samvith, had autism.

Preliminary investigation revealed Samvith was suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder since birth and had difficulty in speaking. The couple was depressed about their son’s health. Vishwanath had left his father-in-law’s house on Mar. 24 and had returned. He had told his family members that he was taking Samvith to play at a park. However, Vishwanath had switched off both his mobile phones later and did not return home. Following this, Basappa had lodged a missing persons complaint with Alanahalli Police Station.

Initial investigations revealed that Vishwanath had parked his bike (KA-09-EB-6552) at Sub-urban Bus Stand. His mobile phone location indicated that he was at Nanjangud. When a Police team reached there, they found that Vishwanath was looking for an air-conditioned lodge. As rooms were not available, he returned to Mysuru and had proceeded towards Bengaluru after parking his bike at Sub-urban Bus Stand.

In Bengaluru, Vishwanath came to Cottonpet and checked into a room on the third floor at Vijay Raj Deluxe Lodge and had told the hotel staff that he had come for his son’s treatment and had given a Mysuru address. Later he strangled his son to death and later hung himself to a ceiling fan.

SUICIDE NOTE

Vishwanath has left a suicide note stating that no one was responsible for his death and also apologised to his wife for taking this extreme step. He was extremely upset as his son was autistic and had approached a couple of schools for his admission, which the school managements had denied. He had discussed the same with his family and relatives.

“It was not bearable to spend two days with my son. How have you been managing the kid since so many days?” he asked his wife in the suicide note. “I am sorry for taking our son with me. You lead a happy life,” he wrote.

Police said that Vishwanath poisoned his son before smothering and then hanged himself. The door was partially closed and the lodge staff peeped in to find his body hung, a Police officer said. Both bodies were decomposed and have been sent for the post-mortem. “We’re waiting for the autopsy report which will reveal the cause of the death,” he added.

LODGE EMPLOYEES  ASSAULT REPORTER

The staff at the lodge objected to a reporter’s presence while he was gathering information from Vishwanath’s relatives, who rushed to the spot after the incident came to light. The staff intervened and stopped them from sharing details of the deceased and snatched the reporter’s phone to delete recordings. The staff also assaulted the reporter and threatened him to leave the name of the lodge out of the story. A case was filed at the Cottonpet Police Station.

Bhavyashree and her relatives came to Bengaluru on Monday evening. “We recorded her father Basappa’s statement. He said the couple had sought admission for Samvith in several schools but they refused as he couldn’t speak. It also made the couple think about the son’s future,” Police said. Cottonpet police have registered a case of murder and unnatural death.