Lucknow‘s Ashiana locality is still trying to come to terms with a horrific incident that took place recently. After a bitter argument regarding competitive exam preparation, 19-year-old son allegedly gunned down his father in the early hours of February 20. He then dismembered the body for days and hid the different parts of the corpse all over his home.
Akshat Pratap Singh has been accused of shooting his father Manvendra Singh, a 49-year-old a pathology lab owner, and hid different parts of the body inside a blue drum at their home, police confirmed.
Crime — Son Shoots Father
It all started at around 4:30 in the morning of February 20. According to reports, Akshat, a first-year B.Com student, reportedly father was exerting a lot of pressure on him to clear the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). Things got heated and he took his father’s licensed rifle and shot him in a room on the third floor. A bullet from a ricochet that was found on the site showed that the gun was fired from close range.
The shooting happened in front of the Akshat’s younger sister, who was threatened into silence after witnessing the aftermath. Akshat was studying BCom even though he had cleared Class 12 with Biology, a combination that his father said was a wasted chance for a medical career.
The Cover-Up — Dismembers the Body to Hide
Eventually, Akshat after killing the victim, carried the corpse downstairs and at first thought it over whether to throw the body in the Gomti River. However, not being able to follow through with that idea he purchased a saw and dismembered the corpse. The torso was put inside a blue drum while the other parts were scattered over different floors of the house.
Some parts the hands and legs were taken from the different places, whereas the head and torso were eventually found in the blue drum. In order to deceive the neighbours, Akshat told them his father had left for Delhi for work. Later on, he lodged a missing report at Ashiana police station and even called his father’s close friend saying that Manvendra had committed suicide.
Discovery and Arrest
The accused was arrested on 23rd February, after the neighbours complained of a foul smell coming from the house, which led to a police search. At the time of the confrontation, Akshat admitted to the killing.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Vikrant Veer also confirmed the arrest and told that Akshat was booked for murder and destruction of evidence. Crime scene investigators have taken samples and the probe is still continuing.
Police have cautioned that school pressure may not have been the only reason. They are also looking at the argument over the missing jewellery as a factor, which the father allegedly confronted Akshat about months before.
This case has brought back the debate at the national level about how the immense pressure of the competitive exam culture in India is like a death sentence.
NEET, which is one of the most crucial medical entrance exams in the country has been a major factor in the suicides of students and the resulting severe psychological distress. The violence in Lucknow adds a devastating new dimension to that ongoing crisis.
