COVID-Positive Man Slashes Wife To Death After She Asks Him To Quarantine On Their Balcony

A COVID-positive man killed his wife with a sickle after she forced him to quarantine on the balcony of their flat and refused to take him to a hospital.

Santosh Patil, a 40-year-old fisherman, was arrested Saturday for murdering his wife Sandhya at their home in the Indian state of Maharastra, The Times Of India reported.

The incident came to light after some neighbors alerted the couple's landlord about "cries and screams" coming from the home. The landlord rushed to the flat to find the couple's 11-year-old son, Mayur, at the door crying. However, the doors were locked and no sound was coming from the house.

"When I asked Mayur why he is crying, he told me his father Santosh and mother fought," the landlord said.

The neighbors also alerted the police. When the cops knocked on the door, Santosh answered. He was smeared in blood. There was blood on the floor too.

"When we asked him (Santosh) what happened, he told he was unwell for last five days, and his wife told him not to leave balcony of the flat as he is showing COVID-like symptoms. After living in the balcony for five days, Santosh stepped in the hall Saturday which resulted in an altercation between him and his wife Sandhya," a senior police official said.

Police said when Santhosh asked his wife to take him taken to the hospital, she repeatedly turned down his demand.

The altercation between the couple escalated and an angry Santosh attacked his wife with a sickle. Though the police rushed her to a hospital, she could not be saved.

"We took Santosh to hospital where he is tested COVID positive. We have booked him for murder. And sent him in quarantine," the police added. The accused will be arrested once he tests negative.

In a similar incident, a man killed his wife before ending life in Chicago last April, fearing they had contracted COVID-19. However, the test report later came back negative. Police said both had died as a result of a single gunshot wound to the head. They also found a loaded revolver, containing two spent shell casings and three live rounds, near the husband's body.