DMK councillor, hubby end lives after poisoning daughter to death

COIMBATORE: A DMK woman councillor and her husband committed suicide after allegedly poisoning their teenage daughter in Rasipuram in Namakkal.

Police said A Devi Priya, 42, the Ward 13 councillor of Rasipuram Municipality, and her husband M Arunlal, 52 had hanged with a saree tied to the ceiling fan, while their younger daughter Monisha, 16, who was studying 11th standard was found lying dead on a bed.

Arunlal was running a jewelry shop in the bazaar street. Police said the councillor and her family were residing on the first floor of the house at Bommi Street in Rasipuram Town, while Arunlal’s mother Susila, who was also an ex-councillor was residing on the ground floor.

The suicide came to light on Wednesday morning when a neighbour came to their house. As Susila was away, the person had gone to the first floor to call Arunlal and was shocked to find the couple hanging and their daughter lying dead.

On receiving information, the relatives arrived and as the news of their death spread out, hundreds of DMK party men gathered in front of the house.

The police sent the bodies of the deceased for a post-mortem at Rasipuram Government Hospital.

After preliminary inquiries, police suspect mounting debt to be the reason behind their extreme step. Police said just before ending her life, Devi Priya called her elder daughter Rithika, who was working in a software firm in Bangalore, and advised her to make savings out of her earnings and take care of her life hereafter. Further inquiries are on by police.