LUCKNOW: A 52-year-old man allegedly murdered his wife by gouging out her right eye with a knife and then crushing her face and head with a brick before dying by suicide at their home in Hardoi district’s Pali area late Saturday, police said.The incident came to light when the couple’s children returned from a local fair and found both parents dead in separate rooms.The deceased were identified as Lalput Rathore and his wife, Janki (50). The incident took place around 11:30pm. Preliminary investigation suggests the couple had an argument linked to a long-standing domestic dispute.Police suspect Lalput, who allegedly doubted his wife’s character, attacked her with a knife, inflicting fatal injuries on her abdomen. He then allegedly struck her head and face with a brick, killing her on the spot.After the attack, Lalput went to another room and hanged himself, police said.The crime came to light when the couple’s eight-year-old son, Pushpendra, returned from the fair and found his mother lying in a pool of blood. Family members then searched for Lalput and found his body hanging from a noose in another room. The children’s cries drew neighbours, who rushed to the house and alerted police.Police recovered a blood-stained knife and a brick, believed to have been used in the killing. Both bodies were sent for post-mortem examination.Neighbours told police that Lalput frequently quarrelled with Janki and allegedly assaulted her, particularly after consuming alcohol. A local resident also claimed that frequent visitors to the house, purportedly linked to Lalput’s alleged involvement in illicit liquor sales, often fuelled his suspicions and triggered arguments.The couple had eight children, including six sons and two daughters. Three of the sons work outside the village as labourers, while the younger children lived with their parents, said circle officer Santosh Singh.
