IndiaPost.com - Insolvent Indian kills family, then self

PORTER RANCH, CA: Friends, business associates, acquaintances and neighbors of Kartik and Shubha Rajaram's family reeled with anguish and shock on Monday morning, Oct 6 when the bodies of family members were found in the upscale, gated community home in Porter Ranch - 20600 block Como Lane, San Fernando Valley.

Forty five year old Kartik had been despondent over financial problems for a while, police said and this led him to go on a murder-suicide rampage on Saturday night. Earlier, neighbors had seen the 39 year old wife Shuba and her mother, 69 year old Indra Ramasesham talking together near the garage where the two younger sons were playing.

When the household had gone to sleep, Kartik had entered each bedroom and shot the family one by one. The mother-in-law was sleeping in the downstairs bedroom, the oldest, 19-years old Krishna Rajaram, who was studying in California University, Los Angeles, was shot in the master bedroom. Shubha was lying in another bedroom when her husband shot her in the head. In another bedroom the younger children, 12-year-old son Ganesha and his 7-year-old brother Arjuna lay dead. Their father later turned the gun on himself.

Oddly, it being such a quiet community, no one heard the shots. A neighbor who always saw the family come and go, said that he was surprised he did not hear anything. The family had been killed in the late hours of Saturday night. Los Angeles police Deputy Chief Michel Moore said during a press conference," Its absolute devastation inside this home." Kartik Rajaram left three notes. One was a suicide note, another to the law enforcement taking the responsibility of the killings and the third was a will and testament.

The Indian community is numb with grief and stunned by the horrifying, gruesome killings. Kartik had worked for PriceWaterhouse Coopers and Sony but at the present time had been unemployed for several months.CBS 2 channel reported that he was co listed as a manager of a corporation called SKGL LLC according to state records and had formed the corporation for his family's assets. A family friend became concerned when the Shuba did not stop by her home on Monday morning. She came over, found the two SUVs parked outside the home and newspapers untouched outside. She informed the police.

TV reporters who interviewed the children's school teachers were told that the kids were "bright, happy boys." One of the boys who studied in Nobel School was constantly winning medals and a star of his class. As the grieving teacher said," We must value each other. Life happens so fast." Crisis counselors have been sent to the schools and teams from the Mayor's office were also sent to the neighborhood to help family and neighbors.

The family had been renting the two-story home for about a year and had always paid the rent, said the landlord. As we live in such a tumultuous times, let us learn to reach out to one another, interact and connect. Let us learn to share our burdens and not be shy or embarrassed to ask for help .

We must not let pride stand in our way. At a press interview one of the police officers urged the community to seek help when faced with problems." If you see someone unable to cope, and yet unwilling to look for help, intervene and inform us, as we can always find resources and counseling." This is a wakeup call for all of us, and as a parent said, "The dynamics of three generations living together is a challenge and stressful, so we need strength and courage to face life." A shocking end for a family destined for so much more.

Pauper from a millionaire According to PTI, Kartik found himself a pauper from a millionaire overnight due to the plunging US stock market. He once made more than $1.2 million in a London-based venture fund. Authorities believe Rajaram, an MBA, killed his family and himself after seeing his finances wiped out by the stock market collapse, Los Angeles Times reported. "To us it appears to be a financial stake, a crisis situation that this man became embroiled in over the past few weeks," police said. On September 16, Rajaram bought a gun.

He wrote two suicide notes and a last will and testament. And then, sometime after Saturday night, he killed his wife, mother-in-law and three sons, and took his own life. "This is a perfect American family behind me that has absolutely been destroyed, apparently because of a man who just got stuck in a rabbit hole," said LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore. In a letter addressed to the police, Rajaram blamed his actions on economic hardships.

A second letter, labeled "personal and confidential," was addressed to family friends; the third contained a last will and testament, Moore added.