In a horrifying event, a 47-year-old priest-by-vocation is accused of killing five members of his family, including three young girls, after a domestic quarrel on Monday in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
The accused has been identified as Mahesh Kumar Tiwari, a native of the Uttar Pradesh district of Banda. He had been residing in the Ranipokhari neighbourhood of Dehradun for the previous 7-8 years, according to Kamlesh Upadhyay, superintendent of police (rural).
According to police sources, Tiwari is accused of slitting the throats of his wife Neetu Devi (36), daughters Aparna (13), Annapurna (9), and Swarna (11) as well as his mother Bitan Devi (75).
Police confirmed that Tiwari and his wife had always been indulging in quarrels and she used to slam him for his profession.
On Monday, at around 7:30 a.m., Tiwari was performing the household’s daily puja when his wife began berating him. Tiwari became enraged about this. Then he grabbed a knife and hacked his wife to death by cutting her throat. Then, according to additional sources, he killed his mother and three daughters.
The neighbours heard the screams of the family members while they were attacked by Tiwari and informed the police about it.
The police officers from Dehradun arrived on the scene quickly and took the accused into custody. The knife he used to murder his family’s five members has also been found by police.
Tiwari is being interrogated by the police.