'COVID-19 will not spare anyone': Depressed over pandemic, doctor 'kills' wife, children in UP's Kanpur

Apparently depressed over COVID-19, a 61-year-old doctor allegedly killed his wife and children to "liberate them and remove all their troubles in a moment" at their apartment in Kalyanpur here, police said on Saturday.

Sushil Kumar, head of the department of forensic medicine at a private medical college, left behind a letter mentioning that he was suffering from an incurable disease and also that "COVID-19 will not spare anyone".

On Friday evening, Sushil texted his twin brother Sunil asking him to inform the police about the killings, police said.

Sunil rushed to the apartment and found it locked from outside.

He entered the apartment by breaking open the lock with the help of security guards and found the bodies of Chandraprabha (48), Shikhar Singh (18), an engineering student, and Khushi Singh, a high school student lying in pools of blood in separate rooms, Police Commissioner Asim Arun said.

He immediately informed the police about the killings and said Sushil had been battling depression.

While Chandraprabha was killed with a hammer, Shikhar and Khushi were strangled to death, the police commissioner said, adding prima facie, it appeared that the victims were given tea laced with intoxicants and killed after they became unconscious.

Preliminary investigation suggested that the trio was killed on Friday morning, he said.

Their bodies were for post-mortem to ascertain the exact causes of deaths.

In a note left behind by Sushil, he claimed that he was a victim of depression and that he eliminated his entire family as "he could not leave his family in trouble", Arun said.

He mentioned that he was leaving everyone "liberated" and removing "all the troubles in a single moment". Sushil also mentioned that he took the extreme step due to COVID-19 and the pandemic "will not spare anyone", Arun said.

"Due to my carelessness, I am stuck at that stage of my career from where it is impossible to escape," Sushil stated in the letter.

The letter also read that the doctor was suffering from an incurable disease, he did not see a future and that he had no other choice.

The police commissioner said several teams have been formed to nab Sushil.