The couple’s 16-year-old daughter is “in the care and custody of friends,” Sugar Land city spokesperson tells the American Bazaar.
The murder-suicide of an Indian American couple in Sugar Land, Texas, has sent shock waves across the country. Sreenivas Nakirekanti and his wife, Shanti, were found dead in their home when police arrived early Monday morning. Initial reports said police had acted on a 911 call that was made by a man who gave the address and hung up. The authorities believe that the person who made that phone call was Sreenivas Nakirekanti himself.
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Sugar Land city spokesperson Doug Adolph told the American Bazaar on Tuesday that police believe that Sreenivas called 911 and provided his address, just before turning the gun on himself.
“We responded to a 911 hang up around 6 a.m. yesterday,” relating the sequence of events on the fateful Monday morning, Adolph told the Bazaar. “When we arrived, we found an adult woman dead in the driveway. A 16-year-old girl exited the house and said her dad would not exit a bedroom. We entered and located her dad dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the bedroom. We believe the dad called 911, provided his address and hung up. We are investigating this incident as a murder-suicide.”
According to some friends, quoted in the local Houston media, Sreenivas also sent out an email just before the incident. However, as the investigation is underway, the authorities are not planning to discuss the reports on the email as yet.
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While the case is both disturbing and surprising, as many friends and neighbors maintain that the Nakirekantis looked like any other normal married couple. It further highlights how in big cities people can remain isolated with dangerous problems at their end. Especially amongst the Indian American community, the case has opened a Pandora’s box as the police do suspect that the killing was due to disturbed marital relations.
“We believe the cause was related to marital issues,” Adolph told the American Bazaar.
There is also a concern about the children of the couple, especially the 16-year-old daughter who was asleep when the murder-suicide occurred. The authorities maintain that she didn’t know what happened. Adolph said, “Their daughter is in the care and custody of friends. The mother’s sister was expected to arrive from out of state yesterday afternoon.”