BANGALORE: Chandbi just couldn’t handle the loss of face after financial woes left her family in dire straits. She’d been married to an affluent
truck owner in Bagalkot who had a terrible run of luck and ended up as a coolie in Bangalore. Unable to cope with this drastic change in fortunes, she killed her three sons — between eight and three years — on Friday afternoon, before committing suicide near Parappana Agrahara.
Chandbi, 37, was married to Hasan Sab, 41, of Nandagi in Bagalkot district and they had three boys — Riyaz, 8, Siraj, 6, and Sameer, 3. Things were rosy till last year when Hasan Sab had a steady business and even owned a truck. But, last year, things started going downhill and Hasan Sab incurred heavy losses. His truck met with an accident, and he was forced to sell it at a throwaway price. Eight months ago, he even had to sell his house.
In Bangalore, Hasan Sab couldn’t get a job and worked as a construction labourer. He earned around Rs 200 every day, hardly enough to meet the needs of the family. Two children were admitted to a government school. The children, realizing the gravity of the situation, began bringing home food served in school under the mid-day meal scheme.
Chandbi couldn’t stomach this as she was from a well-to-do family. Around 12.30 pm on Friday, she poisoned Riyaz and Siraj before drinking some herself. She took the three children to a sump, around 10 ft deep and 15 ft wide. She threw the children first and jumped in.
An old man, sitting in front of a nearby house, noticed Chandbi’s desperate act. He rushed to the tank and raised an alarm. He was too weak to rescue them and before help arrived, the four were dead.
Hasan Sab had gone to work and when he returned in the evening, he learnt about the shocking murder-suicide. The bodies have been shifted to Victoria Hospital for the post-mortem on Saturday.
