In a shocking incident, a couple in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, killed their two daughters assuming that they would come back to life within hours due to spiritual power as the Kaliyuga ends, turning into the Satyayuga.
The man himself called one of his colleagues and informed him about the incident and disclosed his killings. The shocked colleague then tipped off the people about the same, only to reach the couple's house and find them in a trance
Police suspect that the family had apparently been following certain occult practices for some time now.
According to Madanapalle Deputy Superintendent of Police Ravi Manoharachari, it was the mother who bludgeoned the daughters to death.
One of the daughters was tonsured before she was killed, he said.
The man remained a spectator as his wife went about the alleged killings.
The younger daughter was first killed with a trident.
Then, the elder one was bludgeoned with a dumbbell.
Police sources said the couple had actually planned to kill themselves as well to prove that they would come back alive but the timely entry of police personnel averted the possible suicide.
V Purushottam Naidu, M.Sc, PhD, worked as an associate professor in the Government Women's Degree College in Madanapalle.
He was also the College Vice-Principal.
His wife Padmaja, a post-graduate and gold medalist, was Correspondent and Principal of a local private school.
The eldest daughter Aleikhya (27) was doing her post-graduation in Bhopal while the youngest Sai Divya (22) was a ward in the KM Music Conservatory of A R Rahman.
The daughters were staying with their parents since the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
According to the DSP, the family apparently "transcended the peaks of spiritualism," going by their interaction.
"They asked us to wait for a day as their daughters will come back to life again," he said.
Manoharachari said the family was well-educated but wondered why they resorted to such an act.
Police have detained the couple in their house and started questioning while forensic teams were examining the closed-circuit television footage to establish if someone else were also involved in the spiritual rituals practised by the family.
Bodies of the victims have been removed for post-mortem while police launched a full-scale investigation into the case.
(With PTI inputs)
