Woman, kids dead in suspected poisoning, husband critical

Officials are waiting for the man to regain consciousness to find out if it was indeed a suicide pact, or whether he poisoned them before trying to die by suicide.

The man, Palani (46) of Ramasamy street in Vetri Nagar, is a plumber; the deceased were identified as his wife Bhavani (40), daughter Devadharshini (17) and son Pragadish (11).

Around 7 am on Saturday, Palani’s father Shanmugam who lives on the ground floor of the three-storey building in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar went to his house to have coffee as usual. He found their pet dog dead in the balcony.

“When he knocked on the door, Palani stepped out and brought Shanmugam down claiming that he would bring the equipment to remove the carcass. However, as he did not come down even after 1 pm, 

Shanmugam went to the first floor again. That is when he found Bhavani and the two children lying unconscious. He called the neighbours and went to the second floor where Palani has his office. There they found Palani hanging, with blood oozing from his wrist,” said officials.

Palani was rushed to Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. A team from Thiru Vi Ka Nagar police sent the bodies of the three and the dog for autopsy.

With Palani remaining unconscious, police are not sure what exactly had happened. “Shanmugam had dinner with them the previous night, but is clueless about the reason. Preliminary inquiries revealed that Palani was in a lot of debt. But he owns the three-storey building.

“Also, it is not clear whether Palani poisoned the family or whether it was a collective decision to end their lives. We will know the truth only when Palani is able to respond to queries,” said a senior police officer.