Man jumps to death after killing wife

Wife had multiple stab injuries, kitchen knife lay nearby

In a shocking incident, a 60-yearold man committed suicide after killing his wife on Thursday evening.

After a primary investigation, L T Marg Police booked the deceased husband, Anand Makhija, for killing his wife Kavita.

On Thursday, around 6.15am, the police received a call from the residents of Mahendra Mansion informing them a man had jumped from the balcony of his fifth floor residence. This building is located off Jagannath Shankarsheth Road, Chira Bazar.

When the police rushed to the spot, they found Anand lying prostrate on the ground, while his wife was found dead in bed; her body had several stab injuries and the knife used to kill her lay nearby.

When Anand jumped from the balcony, neighbours called his daughter Deepa, 26, who works as a sales executive in a private company. It was a double shock for her as she had suddenly lost both her parents. First, she received news of her father's suicide. Later, when she went to check on her mother at their residence, she found the main door locked from within. She had to use the duplicate key to open it. When she stepped into her parents' room, she found her mother lying on her bed with multiple stab injuries on her chest and stomach.

Kavita had been killed with a kitchen knife which was lying beside her body. The post-mortem report suggests Kavita died due to excessive loss of blood, while her husband died of shock.

A police officer, on request of anonymity, said, "Initially we were going to register an FIR against an unidentified person, but after their daughter gave a statement, we have registered an offence of murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code against her father, Anand".

Kavita was suffering from asthma and she had been hospitalised for a long time. According to police, Anand was frustrated with this situation. On Thursday evening, the couple had fought over some issue and it is likely that the fight, coupled with his disturbed frame of mind, may have caused Anand to stab her.

After committing the crime, the shock of realisation must have driven him to suicide, the police suspect. Anand ran an electronics shop at Chembur. Shocked neighbours said Anand has a polioafflicted brother, whom he would drop to work every day.