A young farmer couple in Gujarat killed themselves by beheading, using a guillotine-like device, probably for a black magic ritual.
When 38-year-old farmer Hemu Makwana and wife Hansa Makwana’s (35) children returned home on the morning of April 16, Sunday, after a short stay at their maternal uncle’s house in a nearby village, they were aghast to find their parents’ decapitated bodies on their own farm. The boy (13) and girl (12) immediately raised an alarm and alerted nearby residents.
The police were called and found a handwritten note in Gujarati with the duo’s thumb impressions stating that they killed themselves willingly and no one was to be blamed. The bodies were sent to Rajkot civil hospital for forensic post-mortem.
“The couple used a make-shift guillotine to end their lives. It is believed that they pulled up the blades of the guillotine themselves and released it in such a manner that their heads fell into a havan kund,” shared Vinchiya police sub-inspector Indrajitsinh Jadeja.
According to preliminary findings, the couple had, over the past year, erected a temporary temple with gunny sacks used for packing food grains. It housed a picture of Lord Shiva and a Shivling made of mud, both of which were regularly worshipped by the couple, as narrated by the villagers.
“We are recording statements to ascertain the reason behind the extreme step,” stated Jadeja, adding that a day prior to the incident, the couple had sent off their children to their maternal uncle’s place.
According to the note found near the bodies along with their mobile phones, Hansa was not keeping well. The note also records that Hemu “trusted his brothers and his in-laws never reprimanded him for anything.”
Hansa’s cousin Jayanti Jatapara refuted suggestions of financial stringency stating that the couple was not struggling with any day-to-day expenses. “Nor were they having any marital or family disputes,” she is reported to have told the police.
This article was originally published on Vibes of India.
