Woman techie, 7-year-old son found dead in US flat

Hyderabad: An IT professional from Andhra Pradesh and her seven-year-old son were found murdered in their apartment at Burlington, New Jersey, US, on Thursday. Narra Sasikala, 40, and her son Anish Sai were found stabbed to death.

Hanumantha Rao, who also works as a software engineer, had informed his in-laws that he found the bodies of his wife and son when he returned home from work on Thursday evening and called emergency services.

The New Jersey police has questioned Mr Rao in connection with the murders. His relatives in Prakasam district claimed he had been released, and had called home. The family had migrated to the US 10 years ago.

The murder comes amid hate crimes against Indians, including the shooting down of a Hyderabadi techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla.

Sasikala’s parents, retired teachers Sunkara Venkateswar Rao and Krishna Kumari, who stay in Vijayawada, alleged that Mr Rao, who is also a software engineer, had must have been involved in the killing and was projecting the murders as hate crimes.

Retired teachers Sunkara Venkateswar Rao and Krishna Kumari, who stay at Tadigadapa in Vijayawada, alleged that Mr Rao had an affair with another woman and had been harassing Sasikala for five years.

According to Ms Krishna Kumari, Sasikala found messages from another woman in Hanumantha Rao’s cellphone in 2012. “Sasikala told me about his affair and took up the matter with her mother-in-law,” she said.

Hanumantha Rao’s parents did not take the matter seriously and asked Sasikala to settle it amicably. “Today my daughter and grandson are dead and her in-laws did not have the courtesy to call us,” Ms Kumari said.

She said Sasikala had called home on Thursday and spoke normally. “She told us that our grandson Anish Sai was going to receive the student of the year award from the school,” said Mr Venkateswar Rao.

Sasikala’s maternal uncle Kolli Prabhakar Rao said the murders did not fall into the pattern of hate crimes which he said happen on the spur of the moment and involved firearms. “No incident like this has happened in the USA. Who will kill a seven-year-old boy in this manner,” he said. He claimed that Hanumantha Rao had taken nearly `1 crore as dowry.

Sasikala’s parents demanded that the Centre should intervene and ensure the investigation is done properly. They urged the New Jersey police to look into messages on the phones of Sasikala and Hanumantha Rao.

In Prakasam district, Mr Narra Subba Rao and Ms Siva Parvathi, the parents of Hanumantha Rao, who stay at Timmarajupalem in Paruchuru mandal of Prakasam district were in a state of shock after their son informed about the tragedy.

They said Hanumantha Rao had dropped his son at school while going to office on Thursday morning and Sasikala had brought him home in the evening. They said when he returned home, there was no response from inside. He took the help of neighbours to break the doors and found the bodies of his wife and son with their throats slit. They immediately called the police.

They did not respond when asked about the allegations of Sasikala’s parents about Hanumantha Rao role in the murders.

His brother-in-law Alokam Ramesh Babu told this newspaper that the police had released Hanumantha Rao after questioning him, and he had called the family. “Police would not have released him if he was at fault. His in-laws are levelling charges against Hanumantha Rao with an eye on the property,” he alleged.

Representatives of the Telugu Association of North America said they had been following up with the police and were trying to make arrangements to send the bodies to India.

Mr Y. Sambasiva Rao, a legislator Prakasam district is also in touch with his acquaintances in the USA and is making efforts to bring back the bodies.