Family suicide pact: SC notice to Karnataka govt on bail plea

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Karnataka government in connection with a bail petition filed by Hallagere Shankar, editor of a Kannada newspaper in a sensational case related to the death of his wife, two daughters and a son allegedly in a suicide pact and the death of a nine-month-old baby in September 2021 in Bengaluru.

A bench of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy sought a reply from the state government within two weeks on the plea against the Karnataka High Court’s order rejecting the bail petition on May 19, 2022.

Senior advocate Venugopala Gowda, appearing for the petitioner, contended that two other accused who are his sons-in-law have already been granted bail.

The special leave petition by advocate Balaji Srinivasan contended that the High Court rejected the bail petition without adverting any just or proper reasons.

The police had filed a charge sheet in the matter invoking Section 306 (abetment of suicide) against Shankar and his two sons-in-law.

Shankar was arrested on October 1, 2021 in the case lodged at Byadarahalli Police Station in Bengaluru.

The petitioner, for his part, had blamed his wife Bharthi, 51, as the root cause of endless disputes in his family.

Shankar’s wife, daughters --- Sinchana, 34, Sindhurani, 31, --- and son Madhusagar, 25, were found hanging in the family’s home in Thigalarapalya, off Magadi Road. Sindhurani’s nine-month-old baby boy was found dead on a bed, apparently starved to death. Sinchana’s two-and-a-half-year-old daughter was rescued from a state of near-starvation.