Depressed Man Kills Pet Dogs, Shoots Himself Over Debt

A man killed himself after shooting his two pet dogs to death in Kolkata, the capital city of the Indian state of West Bengal on Thursday morning.

The incident came to light after residents of the area rushed to 47-year-old Subhankar Roy Chowdhuri’s home after hearing the sound of firing. They saw Chowdhuri lying in a pool of blood in front of the main door with a gun beside his body. The residents then noticed that the man’s two pet dogs too were shot dead. They alerted police who reached the home and sent the body for autopsy.

During interrogation, Chowdhuri’s wife said she was sleeping in the room on the first floor when she heard the sound of firing and rushed down, only to see her husband lying motionless on the floor. She said the man was depressed and was in huge debt. He had borrowed money from several people but wasn’t able to repay his loans.

When asked about the gun, the woman said it belonged to the deceased’s father and was licensed in his name. Chowdhuri was survived by his mother, sister, wife and a three-year-old daughter. He was the only bread earner in the family.

In a similar incident in the southern Indian state of Karnataka in April, a man killed his wife and pet dog before jumping to death from an apartment building. Atul Upadhyay, 58, got into an argument with his wife and in a fit of rage, he killed her by hitting her with a dumbbell. He then threw his dog off the terrace before jumping to death. The security rushed to the main gate after hearing a loud band only to find the bodies of Upadhyay and his pet dog lying on the ground. While searching the home, police found a note stating, “Cancer is a dangerous disease. This is better than cancer. This is not selfishness." However, it remained unclear if it was Upadhyay or his wife suffering from the disease.