‘Wanted to protect them’—Agra man who allegedly killed mother, sisters in ‘confession’ clip before arrest

The accused claimed that neighbours & relatives wanted to harm his family & police paid no heed to his complaint. Neighbours, however, allege that he used to beat up his mother & sisters.

Arshad and his family's house in Agra | Amir Qureshi | ThePrint

Agra: After five members of a family—a woman and her four daughters—were found murdered in a Lucknow hotel Wednesday, the accused, Arshad—the deceased woman’s son—uploaded a video to his social media account, confessing his crime.

The 24-year-old man, a resident of Agra’s Trans Yamuna locality, who allegedly committed the murder with the help of his father, has now been arrested.

Bashar, the accused’s father, can also be heard in the video prompting him, which according to the family’s neighbours, points to his complicity.

Arshad had left for Lucknow about 20 days ago with his mother and sisters, the other residents of the locality said. He had allegedly told the neighbours that they were going to Ajmer.

In the video that is being widely circulated on social media, Arshad claimed that his neighbours—many of whom are the family’s relatives—wanted to grab his house. He accused one of his neighbours of human trafficking, alleging that the neighbour wanted to sell his sisters after sending him and his father to jail on trumped-up charges.

The accused further claimed in the video that he wanted to adopt Hindu religion and convert his shop to a Ram temple to save himself from his relatives, with whom he shared bitter relations, but nobody from the police and administration paid heed to his fervent pleas for police protection for himself and his family, forcing him to take this step.

However, Hemant Kumar, assistant commissioner of police, Agra’s Chhatta area, told The Print that by the time Agra Police received the complaint filed by Arshad on the chief minister’s grievance portal, he had already left the city.

He said that Arshad had married a woman three years ago, but she left him within two months alleging domestic violence.

The family’s neighbours also alleged that Arshad used to beat up his sisters frequently and had bitter relations with his neighbours and relatives.

Babu, one of the residents of the locality, told ThePrint that even the father would beat up the women of the family. When the relatives or neighbours would intervene, the two would fight with them as well, he said.

ACP Kumar said that the neighbours’ claim appears to be genuine. He added that Arshad’s allegations are baseless as his house is currently in his own possession, which he locked up himself. It appears that Arshad is mentally unstable and committed the crime for no reason other than a psychotic episode, Kumar said.