Mysuru:  Unemployment despite good education and work experience, property dispute and constant fight in the family drove a software engineer (design) to kill his wife and only child in city. After committing the crime, the engineer also attempted to end his life but was unsuccessful. He is now admitted to a private hospital where he is recuperating.

The incident occurred at Vijayanagar Fourth Stage near Basavanahalli Circle and the engineer is R. Prajwal. He killed his 38-year-old wife Savitha, a computer science engineer and 10-year-old daughter Sinchana, a fourth standard student at SVEI School, Vijayanagar Fourth Stage. Police said that Prajwal slit the throats of Savitha and Sinchana on May 23 and attempted to kill himself on May 24 (yesterday).

Prajwal is the son of M. Ramachandra, a resident of Yadavagiri who retired as the Assistant General Manager (quality assessment) from Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) in Bengaluru. Prajwal’s family hails from Nanjangud while Savitha is from K.R. Pet. Ramachandra and family stayed at Basaveshwaranagar in Bengaluru and had a house at Yadavagiri in Mysuru.

UNEMPLOYMENT: Prajwal and Savitha were employed in Bengaluru in software companies and sometime back, Prajwal’s company closed down, leaving him without a job. Family sources said that Prajwal was upset about this and he used to confide with his father that he had to take care of his growing daughter.

As Prajwal could not find any other job, his father advised him to shift to Mysuru and as per plans, Ramachandra sold a site in Bengaluru for Rs. 80 lakh and purchased a house in Vijayanagar Fourth Stage for Prajwal to stay along with his family. Savitha too resigned and the family shifted to Mysuru.  

Everything was hunky-dory in Mysuru and the couple admitted their daughter to the SVEI School and both of them were looking for a job. Prajwal’s father told the Police that both his son and daughter-in-law were looking out for a job but had failed despite having sufficient experience. Realising the tense situation in the family over the job, Ramachandra said he gave Prajwal Rs. 25,000 every month for maintenance and also was funding the education of the child.

DRINKING HABIT: Prajwal’s was a duplex house and May 24th was the couple’s 12th wedding anniversary. Meanwhile, Prajwal took to drinking and started picking up fights with his wife over trivial issues. So severe was his addiction that Prajwal’s father Ramachandra got him admitted to many alcohol de-addiction centres in Mysuru and Bengaluru but his attempts failed to yield any results as Prajwal used to consume liquor as soon as he was back from the de-addiction centre.

THE FATEFUL DAY

Narrating the events on May 23, Prajwal told the Police that he had slit his wife’s throat when she was sleeping on the first floor bedroom of the duplex house. He said that on that day, his daughter Sinchana had gone to his brother-in-law (Savitha’s brother) Dr. Rajashekar’s house at KHB Colony in Hootagalli.

Prajwal told the Police that after killing his wife and wiping off the blood stains from his hands, he went to Dr. Rajashekar’s house to pick up his daughter. After bringing Sinchana to his house, Prajwal took her to another bedroom on the first floor and slit her throat on the evening of the same day.

POST-CRIME ACTIVITY

After murdering his loved ones, Prajwal went to the market and purchased cooked chicken and a few bottles of liquor and returned home. He started drinking from the night of May 23 even as the bodies of his wife and child were lying on the first floor of the house.

His drinking spree continued on May 24 (yesterday) and incidentally it was his wedding anniversary. After consuming liquor all day through, he started puking in the night. In a drunken state, he slit his own throat and wrists. But the cuts were not deep.

Unable to control his vomiting, choking, seizures and unbearable pain, Prajwal called up his father Ramachandra at 1.30 am and told him that he had cut himself and needed medical attention.

Ramachandra then asked Prajwal about his wife Savitha and Prajwal replied that she was no more. A shocked Ramachandra then immediately called the Police control room and also the Apollo Hospital. Vijayanagar Police team and the hospital ambulance rushed to Prajwal’s house at around 2.30 am only to find Prajwal bleeding from his throat and wrist. His face was bloated and darkened due to blood stains and continuous drinking.

Prajwal was rushed to Apollo Hospital and his condition is stable. After shifting Prajwal, the Police searched the house and found the bodies of Savitha and Sinchana in separate rooms.

PROPERTY DISPUTE

In his statement to the Police, Prajwal said that he was living out of his father’s money and was ashamed about it. He alleged that his wife Savitha was torturing him for property. Their house at Vijayanagar Fourth Stage was in the name of Prajwal’s father Ramachandra and Savitha was pestering him to register the house in her name.

Prajwal told the Police that his wife even demanded the properties that the family owned in Nanjangud be registered in her name. Trying to settle the property issues, Ramachandra had told Savitha that his sisters and the other son (Prajwal’s brother) R. Arjun had also share in the property and told her that he would partition the property when the time was appropriate.

SUICIDE PACT

Prajwal told the Police that two days before their anniversary (May 22), he had suggested the idea of a suicide pact as they could not live any longer under his father’s mercy. His wife reportedly rejected the idea and also picked up a fight with Prajwal.

Prajwal revealed before the Police that he had made up his mind to eliminate his wife and child and also kill himself to avoid legal consequences. Accordingly, he executed his plan on May 23.  

Vijayanagar Police Inspector Anil has registered a case of double murder. Narasimharaja Sub-division ACP C. Gopal, DCP N. Vishnuvardhana and City Police Commissioner Dr. A. Subramanyeswara Rao visited the spot. The bodies of Savitha and Sinchana have been sent to JSS Medical College Mortuary for post-mortem.