Man beheads three daughters, commits suicide over debt

 

By Sagaya Fernando | August 7, 2025

Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, INDIA: In a heart-wrenching incident that has shocked Tamil Nadu, a 36-year-old farmer allegedly murdered his three young daughters by beheading them and later died by suicide in Veppagounderputhur near Rasipuram in Namakkal district in the early hours of August 5. Preliminary investigations suggest mounting debts drove him to the extreme act.

The accused, identified as P. Govindaraj, reportedly locked his wife Bharathi (26) and their one-year-old son Aneeswaran in a room before carrying out the gruesome murders around 3 am. The victims — Prathiksha Sree (8), Rithika Sree (6), and Deva Sree (5) — were found with their heads severed. Govindaraj was later found dead with his throat slit, suspected to have used the same sickle.

According to police, Govindaraj was a former borewell company manager who had taken up farming on his 2.5-acre land over the past year. He had borrowed around ₹20 lakh — ₹13.5 lakh from a private finance firm in Attur, Salem district, with the intention of buying a borewell lorry, and another ₹2.5 lakh taken through self-help groups in his wife’s name. Instead of investing in a vehicle, he reportedly spent the money renovating their house and had been struggling to repay the loans, including a monthly EMI of ₹27,000.

Bharathi, who was locked in another room with their toddler, heard the children’s screams and tried to intervene. When she eventually broke out of the room, she found her daughters murdered and her husband lying in a pool of blood. Her cries for help drew neighbours to the house, who then informed the police.

Police teams from Mangalapuram reached the scene and shifted the bodies to the Namakkal Government Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem. A case has been registered, and investigations are underway to ascertain if there were other motives behind the crime.

Namakkal Superintendent of Police S. Vimala confirmed the incident and said initial findings point to financial distress as the primary trigger. “We are probing all possible angles,” she added.

The incident has left the quiet village of Veppagounderputhur in shock, with residents expressing disbelief at the scale of the tragedy