Bengaluru: Two school-going sisters were murdered at their house in Amruthahalli in the northeast part of Bengaluru on Saturday afternoon.
Police suspect that the stepfather, Mohan, murdered Srushti, 14, and Soni, 16, and fled the scene. He has switched off his phone and has been missing since Saturday afternoon.
The mother of the minor girls, Anitha, said that when she opened the half-ajar door of her house at around 5.30 pm after arriving from work, she found her minor daughters in a pool of blood, with a machete drenched in blood lying beside them.
Anitha’s wailing drew the attention of the neighbours, who arrived at the scene and informed the police.
Sajeeth VJ, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (northeast), told DH that a case of murder has been booked based on the statement from the girl’s mother.
“We have collected samples from the crime scene and have recovered the murder weapon. Though the stepfather is the prime suspect, we haven’t ruled out any other possibilities,” he told DH.
Police have launched a manhunt for Mohan, a delivery person at a grocery delivery platform, and suspect that he may have boarded a train to flee.
“He may have boarded a train to a different state as the family is not from Karnataka. Even his phone is switched off,” an investigator in the case told DH.
According to the officer, Anitha is from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, and the suspect Mohan is from Uttarakhand’s Dehradun. Both have been staying together for the last nine years after Anitha obtained a divorce from her first husband 10 years ago.
The family had been staying in Amruthahalli’s Dasarahalli for the last two years. They resided on the second floor of a three-storey building; owners stayed on the first floor.
“We questioned the neighbours of the family and their friends; they have not observed any family dispute. The exact reason for the murder will only be learnt after the arrest of the suspect,” the officer quoted previously told DH.
Police suspect that Mohan may have grown infuriated for unknown reasons and attacked the children with a machete. The girls suffered major blows to their neck and died from a huge loss of blood.
According to the police, the incident unfolded around 3.30 pm when not many neighbours were around. One person who was on the first floor of the building was sleeping and heard no screams.
An FIR has been filed at Amruthahalli police station under BNS Section 103 (murder).