Man Murders Sleeping Sister-In-Law For Avoiding His Romantic Advances, Later Kills Self By Consuming Pesticide

A 55-year-old Indian man allegedly murdered his sister-in-law before locking himself in a room and ending his own life by consuming pesticide, authorities said.

The man, identified as Hanumanthu allegedly attacked his sister-in-law, 50-year-old Lingamma while she was asleep at her house at Muthukuru village in Aspari Mandal of Kurnool district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, April 7.

Hanumanthu reportedly used an ax to attack the woman, landing repeated stab wounds on her body. She died on the scene, according to reports.

The Aluru police said the victim’s son and daughter-in-law were asleep on the terrace when the alleged attack happened. They were awoken by the woman’s screams for help.

The woman’s son attempted to catch the attacker, but he ran downstairs and locked himself inside a room.

Family members and neighbors broke open the door to find Hanumanthu lying unresponsive on the floor. He was frothing from the mouth and an empty bottle of pesticide was found next to him, reports said.

The police were called and the responding officers rushed him to a local hospital, where he died during treatment on Thursday, authorities said.

A preliminary investigation revealed Hanumanthu and Lingamma were allegedly having an illicit relationship after her husband died 14 years ago, local media report said.

However, in the past two years, Lingamma had been reportedly avoiding Hanumanthu, leading to frequent disputes.

Both bodies were transported to a medical examiner’s office for an autopsy. A further probe is underway, police said.

This is an ongoing investigation and no further details were revealed at the time of this writing.

Another case of murder-suicide was reported last month when a man, who barricaded himself inside a Kansas home after fatally shooting a woman as she exited the home, was later found dead inside with their slain toddler following a hostage situation that led to an officer-involved shooting.

The male suspect, identified as 37-year-old Eli Crawford shot and killed a 27-year-old woman identified as Taylor Dawn Shutte as she ran outside the home when police arrived for a welfare check on March 26.

Crawford then retreated back into the home with their two-year-old daughter Clesslyn. They were later found dead inside the home with gunshot wounds.

The investigators did not reveal whether law enforcement shot Crawford or whether he killed himself.