Houston: An Indian-American couple was found dead in their home in an apparent murder-suicide at an affluent suburb in the US state of Texas, police said.
Police officers were called to the house in Sugar Land on Monday around 6 am. They found the bodies of Sreenivas Nakirekanti, 51, and his wife, 46-year-old Shanti Nakirekanti at the scene.
They said Shanti was found with a gunshot wound to her head in the driveway of the home on Pendergrass and Sheffield Court.
Sreenivas was found in the bedroom with a gunshot wound to the chest and a small handgun nearby, police said.
Police said a preliminary investigation indicates Sreenivas shot and killed Shanti and then turned the gun on himself.
According to the authorities a 16-year-old girl was asleep in the home at the time of the shooting. She answered the door for police when they arrived and told them her dad was not coming out of the bedroom.
She was not injured. The daughter is now in the care and custody of friends, Sugar Land city spokesman Doug Adolph said.
Friends said the couple also has a 21-year-old son who attends the University of Texas.
"The two fatalities fits the scenario of a murder-suicide. This case is still under investigation," said the Sugar Land Police Department (SLDP) in a press statement.
"There is no danger to residents and SLPD is not looking for any suspects," it noted.
Police told local press there was no history of domestic violence. Friends of the couple told local media they had received an email from Sreenivas that day, but police had asked them not to share the content of the note.
People close to the couple said Sreenivas was a director at an energy company in Houston and Shanti was a computer programmer, and they didn't know of any problems between the two.
He's one of the best friends for a lot of people, and his wife is known to a lot of people here in the community. They're also involved in some charitable organizations. We are really shocked. What went on inside, we don't know, so we're trying to get more details from the police once they complete their investigation, said a longtime friend at the scene.
The murder-suicide is under investigation.
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Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.