A man and his wife died after allegedly beheading themselves using a guillotine-like device to offer their heads for a sacrificial ritual in Gujarat’s Rajkot district, police said on Sunday.
Hemubhai Makwana (38) and his wife Hansaben (35) committed suicide by cutting their heads with a device blade in a hut on their farm in Vinchia village, said Indrajitsinh Jadeja, sub-inspector of Vinchia police station.
Sub-inspector ID Jadeja of Vinchhiya police station said the couple lifted the heavy blade on the guideway with the help of a rope and placed its head near the yajna kund and then unlatched the lifted blade. The blade forcefully slid down, cutting off their heads, police said, adding that the couple had also installed a Shivalinga at the edge of the sacrificial tank.
Police said the couple had sent their son and daughter to the woman’s parents’ home earlier in the day. The children return to find their parents dead. Police have also recovered a suicide note stating that the woman had some illness.
The bodies have been shifted for forensic post-mortem after a case of death was registered.