Engineering student kills parents after differences over his education; bodies found days later

PTI, Jan 1, 2025, 6:11 PM IST

Representative Image (iStock)

Nagpur: An engineering student in Maharashtra’s Nagpur allegedly killed his parents apparently due to differences with them over his education and career, police said on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old accused, Utkarsh Dhakhole, killed his parents at their residence in Kapil Nagar area of the city on December 26 and the double murder came to light on Wednesday morning after neighbours complained of a foul smell, an official said.

After the recovery of the decomposed bodies of his parents, Utkarsh was arrested and he confessed to killing them, DCP (Zone V) Niketan Kadam said.

The deceased were identified as Liladhar Dhakhole (55) and his 50-year-old wife Aruna, he said.

“Utkarsh allegedly strangled his mother, a teacher, around noon on December 26 and later stabbed his father, a technician at a power plant and social worker, to death when he returned home around 5 pm. He then left the bodies there,” the official said.

The motive appears to be a dispute over Utkarsh’s struggling academic record and career, he said.

“Utkarsh failed to clear several subjects during his engineering course. His parents, therefore, wanted him to quit engineering and choose something else. However, he was against their suggestion,” Kadam added.

After killing his parents, he took his college-going sister, who did not know about their murder, to their uncle’s residence. He falsely told the relatives that his parents had gone to Bengaluru to take part in a meditation programme for a few days. Along with his sister, Utkarsh also stayed at his uncle’s place, he said.

However, the double murder finally came to light and he was arrested, the official said.