Daughters killed, accused mother and father, all held excessive non secular beliefs: Andhra Police

On Tuesday morning, when V Padmaja, principal of Masterminds IIT Talent School in Madanapalli city of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh, was introduced in for a coronavirus check to the taluk hospital — forward of her arrest for allegedly murdering her two daughters — she was incoherent.
“Corona did not come from China… it came from Shiva. I am Shiva and corona will be gone by March,” she stated as medical workers tried to get a nasal swab for an RT-PCR check.
Padmaja and her husband Dr V Purushotham Naidu, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Vice Principal on the Government Degree College in Madanapalli, have been arrested for allegedly bludgeoning their two daughters,  Alekhya, 25, and Sai Divya, 22, to loss of life with dumbbells at their residence in Teachers’ Colony space on January 24.
On Tuesday, with Padmaja in a state of agitation, Naidu stood quietly apart after offering a nasal swab for the Covid check. “I have no comments,” he stated, when requested concerning the occasions that led to his daughters’ being killed.
Late Tuesday night, when the couple have been introduced on the residence of a civil choose, each walked in calmly and have been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
The Madanapalli police and others are attempting to piece collectively — from statements given by the couple and folks recognized to them in addition to proof from the crime scene — the occasions that led to the murders within the Naidu residence.
“It seems like the whole family was involved in some extreme religious belief. The deaths are a result of this,” stated DSP of Madanapalli taluk, Ravi Manohar Achari.
Friends and acquaintances of the household share related variations, the one level of distinction being whether or not the mother and father or their youngsters have been liable for the alleged occult practices in the home.
“They were all in it together,” stated a policeman who concerned within the custody of the couple after their arrest.
All round the home — the household moved into the plush, three-storey home in August final 12 months — are paraphernalia corresponding to lemons and aloe vera linked to spiritual ceremonies.
Police have been tipped off concerning the murders by a former instructor on the Masterminds college, whom Naidu had contacted after the murders.
When police reached the home, they discovered Alekhya, an MBA graduate who was getting ready for the civil providers, along with her head battered by a dumbbell, her hair burnt, and a bit of steel stuffed into her mouth. The youthful woman, Sai Divya, a scholar of dance on the A R Rahman music academy in Chennai, was discovered lifeless — stabbed with a trident and battered with a dumbbell.
“The parents had no injuries on them but seemed to be in a trance, saying the girls will return,” a police official stated.
Others, together with those that have labored with the couple, nevertheless, say they discover it exhausting to consider tales concerning the couple’s alleged involvement in occult practices.
“I have known the principal of the Masterminds school for over 25 years. I cannot believe she could have done this,” stated a employee on the Masterminds college.
“They have been cheap folks. They have been rational about Covid and different issues. They have been non secular folks however nothing excessive,’’ stated a relative of Padmaja.
One of the theories doing the rounds in Madanapalli is that one of many daughters was drawn to excessive non secular beliefs and would typically place herself as God. Her social media accounts, within the days resulting in her loss of life, has posts on these traces.
“It seems one of the girls told the parents that they can only get rid of evil by killing them (the daughters), but that they would not die,” a police official stated on situation of anonymity. “We have to verify if any one in the family received treatment for mental illness,” a police official stated.
For now, police are treating this as a straight case of homicide underneath Section 302 of the IPC.