A wealthy Indian-origin couple and their teenage daughter were found dead in their mansion in the US State of Massachusetts, according to media. Authorities suspect a possible “domestic violence situation” as a firearm was found near the husband’s body, although exact details about the incident remained unclear.
The deceased were identified as Rakesh Kamal (57), his wife Teena (54) and their 18-year-old daughter Ariana, all found dead in their $5 million mansion in Dover, 32 km from Boston, at 7:30 pm on Thursday, said Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey.
Teena and her husband, who also went by Rick, had previously run a now-defunct education systems company called EduNova. The couple appeared to have experienced financial problems in recent years, as per online records. Their bodies were discovered after a relative stopped by to check on the family members after not hearing from them for some days.
Morrissey described the situation as a “terrible tragedy” as a “domestic violence situation”, and declined to comment on whether all three family members were shot dead and by whom. He said that the incident could be declared a murder-suicide only after the medical examiner’s ruling came through.
“This is very unfortunate and our heart goes out to the entire Kamal family on this tragedy. I hate to see it at any time. I think some of the tensions that people feel in relationships often come out around the holidays,” the DA said. “There’s been no police reports, there’s been no problems, no domestic issues, no nothing at that house or in the entire neighborhood that I’m aware of,” Morrissey added.
Riches to financial problems
He further said that an investigation into the incidents is ongoing and prima facie evidence does not suggest the involvement of any outside party, but rather suggests a “deadly incident of domestic violence”.
The family’s mansion, estimated to be worth $5.45 million, went into foreclosure a year ago and was sold to the Massachusetts-based Wilsondale Associates LLC for $3 million, as per reports. The Kamals had purchased the 19,000-square-foot estate – which boasts 11 bedrooms – for USD 4 million in 2019, according to the records.
Their company was launched in 2016 but was dissolved in December 2021, state records show. Teena Kamal was listed on EduNova’s website as the chief operating officer of the company, describing her as an alum of Harvard University and Delhi University in India. Her husband Rakesh was an alumnus of Boston University and the MIT Sloan School of Management, as well as Stanford University, according to his biography on EduNova’s website.
The Boston Globe Newspaper said that EduNova marketed a “student success system” designed to improve the grades of students in middle school, high school, and college. Before working at EduNova, Rakesh held many executive positions in the education-consulting field.
However, things turned for the worse when Teena, who was listed as one of the board of directors for the American Red Cross of Massachusetts, filed for bankruptcy last year, listing between $1 million and $10 million in liabilities. The case was dismissed two months later due to insufficient documentation.
Meanwhile, the couple’s daughter was a student at Middlebury College, a $64,800-a-year private liberal arts school in Vermont, where she was studying neuroscience, according to her LinkedIn profile. She also sang in the college choir and recently read at Middlebury’s Lessons and Carols service, the statement said.
According to DA Morrissey, not a single homicide case has been reported in Dover since 2020, and he has never worked on such a case from the neighbourhood in his entire 12-year tenure. ““It’s very rare to have this kind of a violence situation almost in any community in Norfolk County, but particularly Dover,” he said.
(with PTI inputs)