Man killed himself after crow sat on his head

A 23-year-old Indian engineering student committed suicide on Thursday after a crow twice perched itself on his head. V H Anand had spent the last seven months as a trainee at Bangalore's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), one of Asia's largest aerospace companies. He was found dead at his rented apartment, which he shared with his elder brother, V H Hampanna. Reports say he killed himself by consuming poison. His brother had been visiting the siblings' hometown of Gadag, which is 420km north of Bangalore. Anand's body was discovered by Hampanna, who returned home to check on his younger brother after he failed to respond to phone calls.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Anand got very upset after a crow sat on his head on Wednesday. He immediately called  his mother and narrated the entire incident to her, expressing fears that it augured ill - a belief among a section of Hindus. His mother tried to allay his fears and told him to visit the Hanumantharaya Swamy temple and light a lamp. Anand, however, was not convinced and went home and locked himself away before taking the drastic step. “My brother had called my mother, Parvathi, and told her about the crow. He was very tense when he spoke. My mother rushed to an astrologer and on his advice told Anand to pray at the Hanumantharaya Swamy temple," Hampanna said.



Family members became alarmed after Anand stopped responding to phone calls and when Hampanna reached Bangalore the next morning, he found his brother "lying on the floor with froth coming out of his mouth". Anand was immediately taken to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Anand's colleagues told the police a visibly disturbed Anand had narrated the incident to them on reaching the office on Wednesday morning. He had told them the first time the crow perched itself on his head, he took to his heels. But he had a second brush with the persistent crow, following which he again fled. Post-mortem results are still awaited but there seems little evidence to suggest anything other than a suicide.

"I am waiting for the post-mortem report, but even I think he took the extreme step due to the crow incident," the victim's brother confirmed. Police suggest Anand consumed the poison elsewhere and locked himself into his home. A case of unnatural death has been registered at the Basaveshwaranagar Police Station, while investigations are ongoing. According to the tenets of the Hindu religion, a crow sitting on one's head is believed to be a bad omen. Banu Prakash Sharma, an astrologer, said Hindus believe crows contain the souls of people who have committed suicide. "After death, such a soul will not have or find any place to settle down, so it enters the eggs of a crow," Sharma said, explaining that it was therefore inauspicious for a crow to enter a house or touch someone.