AP doctor couple kill toddler

A doctor along with his wife died by suicide after injecting toxic substance to kill their three-year-old daughter, who was mentally and physically challenged.

K. Gopi, an anaesthetist was working at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal, and his wife Shankara Kumari (30) was working as a nurse at the same hospital.

K. Gopi, his wife Shankara Kumari tried to commit suicide by injecting toxic substances to themselves and their daughter Mounika, at a lodge in Narsaraopet in Palnadu district of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.

While Shankara Kumari and Mounica died on Sunday, Dr. Gopi succumbed at a private hospital in Narsaraopet on Monday.

Preliminary investigation by police show that the couple resorted to the extreme step as they were depressed over the condition of their daughter.

Gopi, who hails from Satluru village in Palnadu district, and Shankara Kumari, who was from Dharmavaram in Sri Sathya Sai district, had a love marriage. They were depressed after the birth of Mounika, who was mentally and physically challenged.

Shankara Kumari along with her daughter had come to visit her parents in the native village 20 days ago. Gopi had also arrived from Bhopal two days ago. He called his wife and daughter to Narsaraopet on Saturday and they checked into Dinesh Grand lodge.

Gopi sent a message and some photographs to his sister on WhatsApp on Sunday morning, informing her that they were ending their lives. She alerted other family members, who rushed to the lodge and found the trio unconscious. They were shifted to a hospital where Shankara Kumari and Mounica died while undergoing treatment.

Gopi, whose condition was critical, succumbed early on Monday morning.

Police recovered some sedatives, syringes and other material from the lodge.

The bodies of the couple and their daughter were handed over to the family after postmortem examination on Monday.

Narsaraopet police registered a case and took up further investigation.