Incensed by the cellphones calls they were receiving from an unknown man, a 50-year-old autorickshaw driver in Amraiwadi burned his two daughters to death by pouring kerosene on them and setting them ablaze on Sunday night. The horrific crime took place around 8-8.30pm.
After plying his vehicle the whole day Mukesh Makwana returned home and picked up his daughter 18-year-old Julie's mobile phone which was ringing and answered it.
On hearing Makwana's voice, the caller hung up. Fifteen minutes later he phoned again and by this time, Makwana had apparently worked himself into a frenzy for he started abusing the unknown
caller and slammed the phone down.
He then admonished Julie and his other child, Manisha, 22, who had just done her Professional Teacher's Course (PTC). His anger began peaking as he raged on and he rushed into the kitchen, picked up the can of kerosene the family had purchased in the morning and poured it on his children and set them alight. His wife Narmadaben, rushed to make a valiant bid to save Julie and Manisha, and suffered 40% burns in the bargain.
Neighbours, who had been roused by the commotion, immediately called 108 but Julie died in the ambulance on the way to LG Hospital in Maninagar. Manisha succumbed to her burns at LG, but from her deathbed she made the declaration to police, "Papa burned us." Her mother is still unconscious at the hospital.
Mukesh Makwana has been booked under sections 302 and 307 for murder and attempt to murder, respectively. Amraiwadi police inspector BD Raulji told DNA: "The telephone calls may have infuriated Makwana. We will trace the calls and find out who the man was. When she regains consciousness, we will interrogate Narmadaben. Then we will be able to get the full picture."
People living in Satyamnagar, Amraiwadi, told DNA: "The Makwanas came to live here six months ago. They used to stay in slum quarters before that." The complaint was lodged by Mukesh's brother Purohit Makwana, who lived in the same locality and who is also a rickshaw driver.
"I rushed to my brother's house soon after getting the news of the burning from neighbours," he said.
Mukesh Makwana has a third daughter, who is aged 18 months. His wife Narmadaben is 42. She had gone through an operation to undo the tubectomy she underwent when he bore her only son, 15 years ago. The boy, Vijay, had died of an illness, which prompted her to have another baby.
