Man hacks wife, kids to death

Injures self with axe; cops say he suspected wife of infidelity

An unemployed labourer, who doubted his wife's fidelity, hacked her and two of his daughters to death last afternoon at his home in Hiraman Barne chawal, Thergaon. His elder daughter escaped the attack as she was away in their village in Karnataka.

Satyam Hanumant Kumbhar (30) was disturbed after the birth of his third daughter and used to beat his wife frequently and even suspected her character, the Hinjewadi police said.

After assaulting his wife and two daughters with an axe, he injured himself with it and even tried to assault his brother when he returned home in the afternoon.

The deceased were identified as Chandrakala Satyam Kumbhar (28), Akshata Satyam Kumbhar (5) and Vaishnavi Satyam Kumbhar (11 months).

"My stomach starts churning when I recall what happened before my eyes a few hours ago. I am in deep shock," said Raju Khumbhar, Satyam's brother.

"I went to my brother's house along with a friend around 12 pm and the moment I opened the door Satyam tried to assault me with the axe. His attempt was unsuccessful because he had attacked himself with the same axe and could not find his balance. I immediately came out and locked the door and then started yelling for help. We then called the police."

Raju said his brother Satyam and his wife were daily wage labourers. "I tried to persuade him to take up a job and helped him too but he just didn't mend his ways," Raju said.
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He also revealed that Satyam was in depression and wanted to go back to his village in Karnataka. He was living in Thergaon for the past one-and-a-half years.

Raju said that Satyam was a drunkard and physically abused his wife. "He used to drink often and beat his wife, " he said.u00a0

Senior Police Inspector Ganpatrao Mandgulkar of the Hinjewadi police station said: "Satyam was jobless for the past few months and had apparently heard bad things about his wife. He had a dispute with Chandrakala. His brother-in-law brought them to the city for a job two months ago. However, Satyam was unwaged."

Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone (IV) Sanjay Jadhav said: "Satyam is out of danger and will be shifted to the Yeshwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCM) at night.

The post mortem of the three deceased will be conducted at the YCM hospital."

Earlier, Satyam was admitted to a private hospital.