Reshma Chhetri stood at the Kanpur cemetery, fainted twice while saying goodbye to her 11-year-old twin daughters, with only women police personnel by her side. No neighbours came. No relatives from her husband’s side appeared. Her daughters, born together on March 8, 2016, died together on April 19, allegedly killed by their father.
CCTV cameras across the flat in Kanpur’s Kidwai Nagar recorded the sequence. The footage allegedly showed Shashi Ranjan Mishra, 45, speaking to the girls, using his phone before switching off the lights. Cameras covered most areas including the entrance, kitchen, sleeping area.
The family had dinner around 11 pm. When asked to sleep, the girls wanted to continue watching cartoons. Mishra allegedly promised them a cinema visit but later threatened them. Reshma then took their six-year-old son to her room while the girls stayed with their father.
During questioning, Mishra allegedly told police he killed the stronger daughter first, fearing that if he attacked the other one first, her sister might wake, resist, or alert Reshma. He strangled her with both hands, then cut her throat with the cleaver.
After waiting, he allegedly took the second child to the bathroom, later killing her after she returned to sleep and then called the police emergency line himself to report the crime.
Postmortem examinations confirmed that the girls had been sedated before they were killed. Mishra told police he had mixed sleeping pills into their food. Doctors found the wounds to both girls’ throats were three to four inches deep, with the windpipe severed completely in both cases. Death was caused by severe blood loss.
Reshma told police that Mishra had allegedly grown increasingly disturbed after his mother’s death a few months ago and had repeatedly spoken of wanting to die and take the girls with him.
She said he allegedly asked her on several occasions to leave with their son and let him raise the daughters alone.
Investigators said Mishra had allegedly attacked his wife earlier. Two years ago, he reportedly assaulted her with a knife, injuring her hand. Another attempt was reported a year later, though she escaped unhurt. A complaint was filed but no action followed after he admitted fault.
In his confession, Mishra said he had planned the killings on April 18. “I mixed sleeping pills into their food. When both became unconscious, I strangled them and then cut their throats with the cleaver,” he told police. “I could not gather the courage to kill myself.”
Police said the case is being investigated as a pre-planned murder and not as an act triggered by psychiatric stress.
In flat G4 of Trimurti apartment, two school bags remain in a corner where the girls left them on Saturday afternoon, with exercise books lying open, some work completed and some left midway.
Reshma Chhetri said the sisters followed the same routine daily, walking together to school across the building and returning home side by side. Evenings were spent studying and watching television together. Their six-year-old brother, who played with them every day, now asks about them.
The room has not been cleared. A pillow and neatly kept uniforms remain, along with pencils on the study table. Reshma said she keeps looking at their belongings and questioning how everything changed so suddenly.
The twins studied in Class 5 at Mother Teresa School near their residence in Kidwai Nagar.
5 days to plan, 105 mins to kill: Father’s calculated murder of daughters The murder was not a crime of passion but carefully calculated, police investigation has revealed.
Shashi Ranjan Mishra, bought the cleaver five days before the crime. He purchased it for ₹500 from Moolganj market and kept it hidden in a wardrobe, ensuring his wife remained unaware. Police said he had planned the killings several times before but lost nerve or missed the opportunity.
“Mishra had bought the cleaver he used to kill his twin daughters five days before the crime, concealed it in his bag, and waited for the right moment,” police said.
On the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, spread over 105 minutes between 1:50 am and 3:35 am, Mishra allegedly carried out both murders. He killed the stronger daughter first, fearing that if he attacked the other one first, her sister might wake, resist, or alert Reshma. He strangled her with both hands, then cut her throat with the cleaver.
When the second girl woke and went to the bathroom, Reshma saw them walk past. When they returned and the light went off, she tried to look into the room but could see nothing in the dark. Once the child fell back to sleep, he killed her too.
CCTV footage allegedly showed him sitting near the bodies for nearly an hour before making the emergency helpline call around 4:30 am.
www.hindustantimes.com
#Kanpur #Mothers #lone #goodbye #twins #killed #father #days #planning
