A farmer suffering from an heart ailment killed his two daughters and tried to commit suicide at Mudenur in Ramdurg taluk on Tuesday night.
Siddappa Dulappa Kullur (35) fed his children Pavitra (8) and Priyanka (6) rice mixed with poison. He later ate a bit of it and tried to slit his throat. He was worried that he would die soon due to his heart condition and that his children would be orphaned. While the two children died, he has been admitted to a private hospital in Bagalkot and is said to be critical.
His wife Geeta and their two sons had gone to her relative’s house at Nargund. The police said Siddappa was scheduled to join his wife for a family event in Nargund. He told his wife that he would join her with their daughters later. However, he called his wife and told her that Pavitra and Priyanka had died in a bus accident and claimed to be seriously injured. He asked her not to search for him. He then took the two children to a forest clearing at Mudenur and fed the children poison.
The police said Geeta grew suspicious and came back to Mudenur to look for them. Her relatives found that the bodies of the children and Siddappa gasping for breath in the forest.
Ramdurg police have registered a case of double murder and attempt to suicide.