The Hindu : Man kills wife, son

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 27, 2003

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Man kills wife, son

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI JUNE 26. In a bizarre incident, a 42-year-old man killed his wife and son on Tuesday night and surrendered before the Paschim Vihar police in West Delhi today. An extramarital affair which led to a marital discord seems to have driven the accused to commit the crime.

The police said Harpal Singh Sehrawat, a resident of A- Block, Janata Flats in Paschim Vihar, reached the police station around 8 a.m. today and said he had killed his wife, Sushila (36), and son, Harshit (7), in his house. Both of them were strangled. A note which suggested that Harpal wanted to commit suicide after killing his wife and son was also recovered from his possession. It said in Hindi: "In dono ko maar kar atmahatya kar raha hoon.'' (I am committing suicide after killing these two).

Harpal also claimed that he had consumed two bottles of a mosquito repellent liquid. The police said he seemed normal in the morning and even during the medical examination after he was arrested. However, final reports are awaited to ascertain if he actually consumed the liquid.

Investigations revealed that Harpal married Sushila in 1988 and had a son, Harshit, from the marriage. He was a Class II student of San Martin School at Paschim Vihar.

On June 22, the family had shifted from their Janata Flats residence to a house in Sector-12, Dwarka. However, on Tuesday night he brought them back and strangled them in the night.

Earlier, Harpal completed a diploma in civil engineering from Bahadurgarh in Haryana in 1982. He went on to work with a private company in Libya from 1984 to 1986. He then worked with several companies in India till 1991 when he started out on his own. He began supplying building material and opened an office at Vardhman Plaza, Sector-4, Dwarka.

Last year, Harpal went missing from his home from March to November, last year. His in-laws alleged that he was having an affair with some woman. The police said he had started living with a certain woman in Dwarka.

Sushila and Harpal used to constantly quarrel on the issue and Harpal's in-laws were also against the said affair.

Following the constant fights over the issue, Harpal apparently decided to "finish this for once and all''. So far though, there has been no evidence that he wanted to commit suicide as suggested in the note. While post-mortem reports of the two bodies are being awaited, the police said they were no evident physical injuries on Sushila and Harish. The police are trying to find if his action was impulsive or pre-planned.Meanwhile, the Paschim Vihar police have arrested Harpal on charges of murder and are investigating further.

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