Pregnant woman kills 2-year-old daughter, herself in Mysuru

MYSURU: A 25-year-old woman, who was four months pregnant, committed suicide after killing her two-year-old daughter in a suspected case of dowry harassment in Chamarajanagar district on Wednesday night.
District superintendent of police Dharmendra Kumar Meena said Mahalakshmi first poured kerosene on Pranathi and emptied the can on herself before lighting a match in Doddamole village in Chamarajanagar East police station. The duo couldn’t be saved despite neighbours’ efforts.
Police, in their FIR, have named husband, brother-inlaw and in-laws as accused in the case. According to police, Mahalakshmi married Somu, 30, five years ago. On Wednesday, an argument broke out between Mahalakshmi and rest of the family. “Around 7.30pm, a furious Mahalakshmi dragged her daughter into the kitchen and bolted the door from inside. After a few minutes, she picked up a can of kerosene, poured it on her daughter and set her on fire. Then she committed suicide,” an officer said.
When the mother-daughter duo started screaming in pain, neighbours rushed in and broke open the door to rescue them. Mahalakshmi’s parents, who live in the same area, joined in. But the duo died on the way to a Chamarajanagar hospital. Witnesses alleged that the quartet named in the FIR — the husband, inlaws and brother-in-law — escaped from the spot even as neighbours rendered help. Police chief Meena said it was a dowry case at first look.