Karnataka: Father ‘pushes’ 2 children into canal for favouring mother, both die

During the inquiry, Shantappa allegedly told police that the 2 deceased children were closer to their mother, and did not get along well with him.

YADGIR: The bodies of a nine-year-old girl and her two-and-a-half-year-old brother were recovered from an irrigation canal in Karnataka’s Yadgir district after their father allegedly pushed them into the water, police said.According to news agency ANI, Yadgir superintendent of police Pruthvik Shankar said the boy’s body was recovered at around 3:30 pm, while his sister’s body was found between 5:30 pm and 6 pm.The girl, a Class 4 student, and her younger brother were traced during a search operation carried out with the help of the Fire Department.“Yesterday we received a 112 emergency response call from a person by the name of Shantappa. He called the police control room and mentioned that he has pushed two of his children into the canal in Bigudi limits,” the SP said.The SP said police reached the spot along with the caller, who was accompanied by his six-year-old daughter.A preliminary inquiry revealed that the man had left home around 2:15-2:30 pm with all three children and taken them on his motorcycle to the canal at Bigudi, where he allegedly pushed his son and daughter into the water.As it was late at night, police could not immediately launch the search operation.The search resumed around 6:30 am with the help of the fire department, while officials of the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited (KBJNL) were asked to stop the flow of water into the canal.The accused allegedly spared his six-year-old daughter, a Class 1 student, and took her with him to Yadgir town. After reaching Yadgir, he called the emergency helpline 112 and informed police that he had thrown his two other children into the canal.During the inquiry, he allegedly told police that the two deceased children were closer to their mother, Renuka, and did not get along well with him.“On enquiry, he says that these two kids were closer to the mother, that is, his wife Renuka, and they were not getting along well with him,” Pruthvik Shankar said.Police had registered a kidnapping case on Tuesday and would add Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) pertaining to murder, the SP said.“As of now, we have taken the father, Shantappa, into custody. Yesterday, we had registered a kidnapping case, and today we’ll be adding the section of murder that is 103 BNS, and now we’ll arrest this Shantappa and continue our investigation as to what exactly led to this tragic incident,” he said.Further investigation was underway.(With agency inputs)