'He does not deserve to live ' said Kanpur woman as her husband slit throats of twin daughters

Kanpur (UP), Apr 19 (PTI) "He does not deserve to live," lamented a mother of twin 11-year-old girls after she woke up to the horror of finding her daughters dead in a pool of blood, allegedly drugged and killed by her husband.
    The crime has tore apart the family of five -- parents, two daughters and a young son.
    Reshma, who had come to Kanpur from West Bengal's Siliguri and married Shashi Ranjan Mishra, 48, in 2014, described a life that had slowly unravelled behind closed doors. The family lived in a rented apartment in Kidwai Nagar, and were estranged by routines. She slept with their six-year-old son, while Mishra shared another room with the twin girls.
    Once a medical representative, Mishra had left his job a few years ago to start a business, but had recently been without work. Reshma, too, who earlier worked at a beauty parlour, was unemployed.
    According to Reshma, the marriage had turned turbulent over the years. Mishra allegedly grew increasingly suspicious and accused her of infidelity and installed CCTVs across the house.
    He drank, took sleeping pills, and had been battling depression, especially after his mother's death. "He had said earlier that he would end his life," she told police, adding that he had even spoken about dying along with the children.
    On the night of the incident, Mishra took the daughters to his room, as was the routine. Reshma said she went to sleep with her son.
    CCTV footage later showed Mishra taking one of the girls to the washroom around 2:30 am and returning, suggesting both children were alive at that point. What happened afterwards remains the most chilling gap in the timeline.
    Police said Mishra confessed to mixing sleeping pills into the children's food, rendering them unconscious before strangling them and later slitting their throats with a cleaver he had purchased a day earlier.
    Investigators noted the absence of any signs of struggle, reinforcing suspicions that the girls were incapacitated before the attack. Mishra himself called the police around 4:30 am and was found inside the flat when officers arrived.
    Reshma said she had no idea of the killings until police reached their door in the early hours. "I was asleep. I did not know when it happened," she told officials, still in shock. Her statement has formed the basis of an FIR registered at Naubasta police station.
    Police officers say the motive remains unclear, though Mishra reportedly cited anxiety about his daughters' future.
    Police are examining possible psychological distress, depression, and financial strain as contributing factors. Forensic teams have combed the flat, collecting evidence, while CCTV footage is being analysed to reconstruct the final hours.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)