NRI doc may have struggled with career

The United Kingdom-based Indian surgeon who reportedly killed his wife before taking his own life and that of his son's may have been struggling to establish his career.

Dr Jayaprakash Chiti stabbed his wife, Dr Anupama Damera, at their family home before driving three and a half miles to jump off a bridge with two-year-old Pranau in his arms.

Father and son died from multiple injuries, police told rediff.com. A subsequent search of the family home led to the discovery of Dr Damera's body in an upstairs bedroom.

Amazingly, the couple's older son, 11-year-old Ani, was found asleep in a separate bedroom. The youngster is under the care of relatives.

Consultant radiologist Dr Andrew Evans, who worked alongside cancer specialist Dr Damera in Nottingham, described his former colleague as 'the greatest, kindest person' who had done excellent work before she moved to Ipswich with her family.

"Anupama lived for her work and for her children. She could have picked wherever she wanted to work. It is very difficult to find good specialist in our area and she was outstanding. She was a complete success story and had job offers from all over the country.

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"Her husband wasn't doing so well. He found it difficult to make a career here. He had trained as a surgeon in India but found it difficult to follow that route here. He worked here and there, usually for six month periods, but never settled down."

Back home in Hyderabad, Dr Chiti's private practice was described as a 'roaring success'.

Describing what happened to the family when they moved to the UK five years ago, family friend Dr Manoj Sikand said, "He wanted to practice general surgery but struggled to get a job in Nottingham. I asked a few times if he planned to return to India but he wanted to stay in the UK. In his heart, I think he was struggling to cope with the way his wife's career was going."

Family neighbour Diane Spalding, who comforted surviving son Ani until a relative arrived to look after him, said, "Ani had no idea what was going on. He didn't want to believe it. He just couldn't accept it and kept thinking up different explanations for what was going on.

"He said his parents had not had a row. There were plenty of tears. Ani asked why he had survived at the expense of his brother. I didn't know how to answer that. It was heart breaking."