An academician couple from Madanapalle in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh stripped naked their grown-up daughters and massacred them to death on Sunday. It is learnt that the couple believed in superstitions and occult practices and thought they’d come back from the dead when the story came to light on Monday.

Purushothaman is the Deputy Principal of a Women’s College here. His wife Padmaja runs personality development classes They have a 27-year-old daughter, Alekya, and a 22-year-old daughter, Sai Divya.

It is learnt that the couple has been focusing on witchcraft for many years. They killed their daughters in the belief that they would be resurrected.

Neighbours who heard screams and weird noises coming from the house alerted the cops who had to break the door open and gain entry.

When the cops entered the house by force, they found Alekya and Sai Divya dead and lying naked in a pool of blood in different parts of the house. Meanwhile, the couple continued to pray without any trace of tension even as the cops entered the crime scene.

When the police tried to speak to them, they asked them to be patient, saying the two girls will come alive soon. The mortal remains of the daughters were taken for post-mortem.

According to the cops, they had been praying at the house for three days. However, the day of the massacre was set for Sunday. They knocked the daughters unconscious first with exercise dumbbells and later stabbed them mercilessly.

The couple is expected to be arrested post a psychological evaluation. The innocent murders of their daughters by so-called highly educated parents have sent shockwaves through the community.