Chennai: Allegedly depressed over the marital life of their son, an elderly couple committed suicide at their residence in Iyappanthangal near Porur by immolating selves on Monday night. The couple left a suicide note and a cheque to take care of the expenses of their final rites.
The deceased were identified as Manoharan (62) and his wife, Jeeva (56) - both retired Central government staff. Manoharan had retired as a technical officer from Avadi tank factory while his wife was working with the AG’s office, police said.
On Tuesday morning, neighbours noticed smoke emanating from the window and alerted the fire services. Rescue personnel broke open the door to find the elderly couple lying dead. While Manoharan’s body was charred, Jeeva was found dead without any burn injuries. Police suspect her to have consumed poison and died of asphyxiation due to the smoke.
Their son, Saravanan was away at Palani when the incident happened. Preliminary investigations suggested that the elderly couple were unhappy with the lives of their children and hence chose the extreme step.
A suicide letter was secured from the house in which Manoharan had written that nobody was responsible for his death. “He had left behind two cheque signed by him in which he had filled up a sum of Rs 2 lakh. He had mentioned it was for the expenses for their final rites,” said a police officer. He had also written a list of phone numbers of his relatives to be informed after their death. Police moved their bodies for postmortem to government Kilpauk medical college and hospital.
