Lucknow: The 15-year-old daughter of a railway official was taken into custody on Saturday after she allegedly shot dead her mother and brother.
The wife and son of R.D. Bajpai, Executive Director, Railway Board, were found murdered at the government bungalow under Gautam Palli police station in Lucknow on Saturday.
The officer’s daughter, who studies in Class 10 and is a trained shooter, and is said to be suffering from depression.
Lucknow Commissioner of Police (CP) Sujeet Pandey said, “After killing the two, the minor girl, who was not in good mental health, also tried to harm herself by slitting her wrists with a razor.”
At the time of the incident, the railway officer was in Delhi where he is posted. The girl has been admitted in hospital, the police commissioner said. This act reflected the girl’s mental instability and that she required immediate medical assistance, he added.
The police official said the girl, who is a trained shooter and prolific user of weapons, used a .22 bore rifle to commit the crime.
Pandey said the girl fired three bullets — one hit a mirror and two others killed her mother and brother. He said that the girl had written the words ‘I am a disqualified human’ on the washroom mirror with fruit jam, which made her a suspect.
The girl was questioned before her maternal grandparents and she confessed to committing the crime. The rifle used in the crime had been recovered on the basis of her disclosure.
The girl, police sources said, was inspired by Japanese author Osamu Dazai, who talks about estrangement of the individual from society.
Police stumbled upon the revelation after the confession of the girl in presence of women cops and a counsellor.
A senior officer who interrogated the girl, said she used to follow the characters of Dazai.
“A character in Dazai’s novel called Oba Yozo tries to adapt, cope and fit in but fails to become a human. The girl identified with that. In her notebook, she has scribbled ‘to fail to be human, to be disqualified as a human being’. This is an excerpt from the book ‘Longer Human’ by Dazai,” said the officer.
The police also recovered a toy ‘skull’ and other grotesque photos from inside her room.
It may be recalled that the railway official’s wife Malti (45) and son, Sarvdutt, were found murdered while sleeping on Saturday afternoon.
The double murder sent shock waves since the bungalow is located in a high-security zone, barely a kilometre from the Chief Minister’s residence.
Initially, the police quizzed the servants since no forceful entry had been made in the house.
The girl remained quiet and the police thought she was in a state of shock. However, the girl kept caressing her hand over the full sleeved shirt she was wearing.
It was later found that the hand was bandaged and when her grandparents made her take off the bandage, they found several cuts made by a razor. This made her a suspect.
On further questioning, the girl told the police that on Saturday, after having lunch, her brother and mother had gone to sleep. The girl went to the bathroom, took a shower and then with fruit jam scribbled ‘I am a disqualified human’, on the mirror. She also shot at the bathroom mirror. She later came out and shot at her mother and brother who were asleep.
The girl herself informed her maternal relatives and domestic workers about the incident.
