The Times of India reported a tragic story of a 39-year-old man who, believing he had been infected with HIV, killed his family. The suspect, Praveen Manwar, claimed that he believed he’d contracted AIDS when he noticed open sores in his mouth. He said he’d had a habit of visiting the sex workers in the red light district in Dehli and had decided he was HIV-positive after doing a Google search on AIDS symptoms.
He told police he tested positive and then told his wife, Shilpa. He claimed that the two of them decided on a suicide pact, agreeing that it was best to end their lives. He said that the couple also planned to kill their two children, Sharvani, 9, and Praneeti, 2, so they would not be left to fend for themselves.
After searching the internet for the best ways to kill his own children as painlessly as possible (ruling out hanging and poison), the man settled on rolling his car into a gorge with the whole family inside and then setting it on fire.
He said that he doused the vehicle in gasoline before getting back inside and rolling it into the gorge. After he came to, he got out of the car and set it on fire. He said he was unable to bring himself to get back in the car and instead watched his daughters cling to his wife as they died in terror.
He said that he loved his family very much but that he couldn’t live with the social stigma of being HIV positive. He said he attempted and failed at suicide four times before coming forward with his story.
The police, highly suspicious of the suicide pact story, ran a second HIV test which showed Manwar was negative. He has been booked for murder and for destroying evidence.