Retired Armyman kills wife, mentally ill daughter: Police

The accused, Purshottam Singh Gandhok, stayed with his wife Jasbir Kaur and daughter Kamaljeet Kaur in a rented flat on the ground floor of a three-storied building. Around 8.30 pm, he allegedly murdered his wife and daughter by slitting their throats with a knife.

Twelve hours later, around 8.40 am, he called one of his daughters who lives nearby and confessed about the crime. His 58-year-old daughter rushed to his house but found the door locked from the inside and the windows shut. She then called out for him. Gandhok told her he will open the door only for the police. His daughter called the police control room and local police rushed to the spot. When the man opened the door, the police found both the women lying on different beds inside the bedroom.

According to police, when his daughter asked Gandhok why he did this, he replied, “I killed them as I could not see them in pain and I was unable to take care of them anymore.”

The police said Gandhok’s wife had an angiography and for the last 10 years, she had been mostly bedridden. His daughter was mentally ill since childhood and was dependent on the parents.

Gandhok has a son and three daughters. The police said the son had not kept in touch and one of his daughters stayed in another state. Gandhok had retired from the mechanical transport supply department of the Indian Army.
Just a week ago, they had shifted from Virar to be close to the third daughter who stays in Sher-e-Punjab locality. Based on her complaint, Gandhok was booked for murder. A resident of Gandhok’s building told The Indian Express, “We got to know about the incident only after we saw police vans below our building. No one knew them as they had moved in just a week ago.”