Sun Pharma former RnD head murders family of three, then commits suicide

Gurugram: In a spine chilling incident, former head of Research & Development (R&D) at Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Sun Pharma) along with his wife and children were recently found dead in their Gurugram house. The deceased has been identified as Prakash Singh, a 50 years old pharma industry veteran who was residing in Uppal Southend (Sector 49) and was about to join a Hyderabad-based Pharma company soon.

The incident came to light when Singh's maid came to work on Monday morning around 7 am and knocked on the door. Despite several knockings, there was no response. Thereafter, she informed the people nearby who in turn called the RWA. Meanwhile, the neighbors made failed attempts of calling on Singh's number. With the growing suspicion, they tried peeping through the window. Soon, one of the maids managed to crawl into the house and found three dead bodies in the bedroom while one in the drawing room.

Immediately, the cops were informed who came and broke open the doors to the horrific sight of Singh hanging from the ceiling fan of the dining area, from a nylon rope that had been knotted into a noose. In one of the three bedrooms were the bodies of his wife Sonu (48) that lay dead on the floor around six feet from the bed while daughter Aditi's body lay flat on her back on the bed in a pool of blood and Son Aditya's body was found near the bedroom door.

The bodies were sent for an autopsy that revealed brutal assault on the three. Dr. Deepak Mathur, forensic head of Civil Hospital and a member of the board that conducted the autopsy stated, "Prakash's was suicidal hanging while his daughter, wife, and son have multiple injuries on their heads. They had deep cuts and they might have died within a few minutes. The incident could have taken place between midnight and 2 am."

It is learned that there were a dozen injury marks on Aditi's body, eight on Aditya's, all on the head, and 19 marks all over Sonu's body, but mainly on head. Sonu also had a severe cut on the back of her neck.

As reported by DCP(east), Sulochana Gajraj, a note was found in Singh's trouser pocket written with a pencil. The note reads, "I am completely failed taking my family along with me. I am completely responsible for this. No one else." The note was dated July 1, 2019, bearing Singh's initials. This supposedly indicates that the death took place after Sunday midnight.

Based on the note and the nature of injuries, the police believe that Singh allegedly killed his wife and children before committing suicide. The investigators further added that it seemed like his daughter was charged with a hammer first and a huge kitchen knife while she was sleeping in her room. Her head was badly hit with the hammer. This probably would have been followed by his wife and son going towards Aditi's room when they were struck down.

"There were struggle marks on the bodies of the mother and son, but none on the daughter's body," a senior police officer told TOI. "It seems the daughter was attacked in her sleep," the officer added.

The search of the crime scene revealed that Aditi was a BPharma student of Jamia Milia Ismalia who had formed her own small startup for handmade soaps known as Soap Dynamics, which she ran from the house. A package from a courier company addressed to Soap Dynamics was found unopened in the house.

The case has taken a complex turn as everything seemed quite normal and the family had spent the day prior to the incident just like any other. Aditi had a WhatsApp conversation with her aunt, Seema Arora, around 11.30pm, before falling asleep. Arora had reportedly visited the Singhs a couple of days ago and had dinner with them yet found nothing unusual.

Presently, Arora has filed an FIR under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC that has been registered at Sector 50 police station.

Arora, one of Sonu's three sisters, told TOI, "Police are carrying out the investigation and we will know when they find something," The family likely performs the last rites on Tuesday.

The only survivors in the household were the family's four pet dogs, which have reportedly been transferred to the RWA's custody.

Investigators were of the opinion that they did not find any apparent agenda behind Singh's alleged act. One theory is that he might have been depressed but there is no evidence so far to support that he was under any kind of treatment. ACP (Sadar) Aman Yadav told the daily that nothing thus far pointed towards a particular reason. "What triggered the crime is not clear," Yadav told TOI.