PUNE: In a horrifying incident, a man hanged his three children — aged four, six and eight — to death before ending his own life, also by hanging, at his four-bedroom flat at Ramkrishna Apartments in Baner on Tuesday morning.

The man, Chandrashekhar Ranaware (44), also hanged his eldest daughter, aged 10, in another bedroom, but she managed to set herself free and rushed out of the flat. Ranaware’s wife had left the house a fortnight back after they had a bitter quarrel.

Ranaware, who had left his job at Ammunition Factory , Khadki some four or five years back, owned the entire front portion of Ramkrishna Apartments. He earned good rent from a shop and three flats he had leased out. He lived on the third floor.

A disconsolate Varsha (32), Ranaware’s wife, told TOI on returning to Pune from her father’s house at Manchar that her husband would suspect her character and often beat her and the children.

Ranaware’s nephew, Mayur Kamble (20) of Pimpri, was in the house till 8 am. He told TOI that he has been staying with the Ranawares for the last two years. However, that morning, Ranware forced him to go back to Pimpri, saying he would kill the children if he didn’t.

Ranaware’s eldest daughter, Dhanashree, who had a miraculous escape, said her father first took the youngest child, Shivam (4), to one bedroom and later Shreyas (6) to another bedroom. He then grabbed hold of Dhanashree and hanged her with a piece of his wife’s saree in the third bedroom.

Dhanashree said she managed to set herself free when her father left the room. When she came to the hall, she was horrified to see both her sister, Komal (8), and her father hanging from a hook in the ceiling. Dhanashree said she rushed to her uncle’s house, which is in another wing of the building, and told them of the incident. She also called up her mother at Manchar.

Ranaware’s cousin, Arjun, went to the flat but rushed out on seeing the two bodies in the hall. He immediately contacted the police, who came to the flat and brought down all four bodies. While the children had been hanged with pieces of Varsha’s saree, Ranaware had used a rope to end his life.

Inspector S B Navale of the Chatushrungi police station told TOI that no suicide note was found in the flat. “We suspect Ranaware committed the gruesome murders following the tiff with his wife. We have registered offences under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code,” he said.

Speaking to TOI, Kamble said Ranaware would often quarrel with his Varsha. “Three days after Varsha left for Manchar, Ranaware told his relatives that he was going to kill the children and also end his life. We panicked and sent him and the children to his sister Jyoti Oval’s place in Daruli village in Paud,” he said.

Kamble said that Ranaware and the children returned from Daruli on Sunday. “Since Monday night, Ranaware was telling me to go back to Pimpri. On Tuesday, both of us got up around 4 am, with him continuously telling me to leave. I got worried and told him I wanted to stay with the children. However, around 7 am, he threatened to kill the children if I did not leave. I then boiled milk for the children and left around 8 am. I got to know of the incident around 11 am and rushed to Aundh hospital,” he said. Kamble said both Dhanashreeand Komal were studying in Murkute school at Baner and Shreyas in Bharati Vidyapeeth school at Balewadi. “However, Ranaware had not sent the children to school since Varsha left the house,” he said.

Ranaware’s cousin, Ahinsak, said Ramkrishna Apartments was a family-owned property. “The front portion was in Chandrashekhar’s possession. He had given the ground-floor shop on rent to a popular eatery, the first floor to a private company and two other flats to families. He earned a handsome rent and was also involved in land dealings,” he said.

Deputy commissioner of police (zone-III) Dnyaneshwar Chavan and assistant commissioner of police (Chatushrungi division) Vishnu Mane visited the spot.

