Dad Allegedly Attempts To Hang Daughter, Send Photos To Wife To Make Her Come Home

A man in the Indian state of Maharashtra was arrested after he allegedly tried to murder his 13-year-old daughter over the weekend and planned to send photos of the incident to his wife in an attempt to get her to live with him again.

The father — identified as a painter in his 30s named Ajay Gaud — tried to murder his eldest daughter Saturday and took photographs of the scene with the intent to send them to his wife, newspaper The Times of India reported.

Gaud allegedly tied a shawl to a ceiling fan in his Malad home and slipped the other end around his daughter's neck before he got her to climb on top of an overturned bucket, according to the outlet. He then allegedly insisted for the girl to jump so she would strangle herself and die.

The father allegedly started taking photos of his daughter standing over the bucket with the intention of sending them over to his wife, Puja, who moved out of their home around two years ago due to frequent fights.

"[H]e would call up Puja often and ask her to return home. The two would fight over the phone. Puja had made it clear that she would never return to live with him," a police officer was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

Gaud allegedly planned to send the photos to Puja to make her come back to his home while attempting to pass off his daughter's murder as a suicide.

"He threatened his daughter that he would start the ceiling fan and she would lose her life anyway if she did not jump off the bucket," Kurar police senior inspector Prakesh Bele said.

The girl, however, was able to raise an alarm, alerting neighbors, who called police.

Prior to the alleged murder attempt, Gaud reportedly put his 8-year-old son to sleep and covered his body with a white sheet before lighting up incense sticks and sending photos of the scene to Puja. He allegedly intended to pretend that the couple's son died of suicide as well.

Gaud, a father of four, reportedly brought his two elder children to Mumbai around a month and a half ago to pursue online education. He would allegedly beat them after they talked to their mother over the phone.

Gaud's brother, Suchit, registered a police complaint against him. Gaud was then presented before a magistrates’ court.