Family enters into suicide pact over mounting debts in Chennai

CHENNAI: Four persons of a family entered into a suicide pact in their residence in Neelankarai on Monday allegedly due to mounting debts. Of the four, two persons succumbed while two others are in intensive care unit.

Police said that the family resides at Senganiamman Koil street in Neelankarai. Investigations revealed that the family was dependent on the salary of Ram Kumar (37), who lived with his elderly mother, Meenakshi (67) and his elder sister, Santhanalakshmi (40) and her daughter, Shanmugapriya (18), who was autistic.

Both the women are widows. While Ram Kumar’s father died 15 years ago, his brother-in-law died 8 years ago after which he became responsible for taking care of the family, police said.

On Monday afternoon, he called his manager at his workplace and informed him that he will not come to work as he has decided to end his life and cut the call, a police official said. Panicked, the manager informed his colleagues and then alerted the police.

Police broke open the door to find the four lying unconscious. They were moved to a hospital nearby where Santhalakshmi and her daughter were declared brought dead. Ram Kumar and his mother are in a critical condition. Neelankarai police have registered a case and are investigating.