Debts push man to take extreme step of killing son

CHENNAI: Citing mounting debts as the reason, a 33-year-old cook murdered his elder son in their house at Madambakkam and attempted suicide at Marina Beach. The police have filed murder charges on him.

The police identified the arrested as P Krishna Chaitanya who lived with his wife and two sons- aged 8 and 4 at an apartment in Parvathy Nagar main road, Madambakkam.

Chaithanya, employed at the Tambaram Air Force Station, killed his son Badri when his wife and younger son were asleep in the next room. He then took a taxi bike to Marina Beach where he attempted suicide and he was rescued by the patrol cops on Sunday. The Marina police handed him over to the Selaiyur Police. Preliminary investigations revealed that the man committed murder and tried to kill himself due to depression over his mounting debts and loss in online gambling.

Hours after murdering his son and minutes before his failed suicide attempt, he had sent a WhatsApp message to his friends around 3.30 am, stating, “Chaitanya and Badri (his son) no more. This news, my wife does not know. If she wakes up, she will be scared, please go to my home and help her (sic).”

On Saturday evening, Chaitanya took his family to an outing and after reaching home he slept in a room with his elder son. “He wrote a note to his wife saying that he was taking away his elder son with him and did not want to be a burden anymore. He suggested her to remarry,” a police officer said.

Around 1.30 am, he strangulated his elder son with a saree and murdered him after which he decided to drown in the sea off the Marina beach, before police foiled his attempt.

Selaiyur Police recovered Badri’s body and sent it to Chromepet government hospital for autopsy. Police registered a case under murder charges and Chaitanya was produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.