The bodies of a nine-year-old girl and a two-and-a-half-year-old boy were recovered from an irrigation canal in Karnataka’s Yadgir district after their father allegedly pushed them into the canal, police said on August 20.
Yadgir Superintendent of Police Pruthvik Shankar stated that the boy’s body was found at approximately 3:30 pm, while the girl’s was recovered between 5:30 pm and 6 pm during a search operation involving 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 superintendent said.
Police arrived at the scene with the caller, who was accompanied by his six-year-old daughter. Initial enquiries indicated that Shantappa had left his home around 2:15-2:30 pm with all three children, traveling by motorcycle to the canal at Bigudi, where he allegedly pushed his son and daughter into the water.
Due to nightfall, the search operation was postponed until 6:30 am the following day, when it resumed with the assistance of the Fire Department. Officials from the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited (KBJNL) were also requested to halt the water flow into the canal.
The accused reportedly spared his six-year-old daughter, a Class 1 student, taking her with him to Yadgir town. Upon arrival, he contacted emergency services to report that he had thrown two of his children into the canal.
During interrogation, Shantappa allegedly stated 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,” said Pruthvik Shankar.
Police had registered a kidnapping case on August 19 and planned to add Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to murder. “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,” the SP added.
Further investigation is ongoing.