Three women commit suicide to ward off evil in East Godavari district

Kakinada: Three women, including an 18-year-old, allegedly committed suicide in a fit of religious frenzy at Karapa, near Kakinada in East Godavari district.

Sources said Rasamsetty Satyaveni (48), her sister Sathi Dhanalakshmi (45), and Dhanalakshmi’s daughter Vyshnavi Devi (18) had converted to Christianity four years ago and had been devout, offering prayers every morning and evening, since.

On Sunday, they had celebrated Dhanalakshmi’s son Raghuveer’s birthday at the church, where religious discussions were held on the glories of God and on matters of life after death.

On Monday morning, the three women had locked themselves in a room after telling Satyaveni and Dhanalakshmi’s mother that they would offer prayers to God to ward off “negative forces”.

When Raghuveer reached home in the afternoon and knocked on the door, there was no response from his mother and sister. When he broke open the door, he found his mother and aunt hanging from a beam while his sister was hanging from the ceiling fan. Kakinada in-charge DSP M. Venkateswara Rao said they were investigating the deaths.

“About 3.30 pm on Monday, Raghuveer came to Karapa police station and informed us about the deaths. The dead bodies of Satyaveni and Dhanalakshmi were hanging from the beams and Vyshnavi Devi’s body was on the floor as Raghuveer had taken her body down, believing she might survive. We are awaiting post-mortem reports and conducting investigations after taking a video of the scene,” Mr Rao said.