A 28-year-old man allegedly killed his pregnant wife and four-year-old daughter by mixing a chemical in water before consuming it himself and committing suicide in Red Hills on Sunday night.
He is also suspected to have poisoned another drink that his mother-in-law consumed. She too, died on the same night.
On Monday afternoon, Gomathi Amman Nagar in Red Hills was in mourning over the death of four of their own on the same day.
A huge crowd had gathered in front of the victims’ house, where the local welfare association had put up a notice board with a condolence message.
According to police, the house belongs to T. Manoharan, a retired BSNL employee and his wife Malarvizhi (61), a retired government employee. The couple has three daughters. Hemalatha, the second daughter, lived with her parents along with her husband Saravanan and daughter Kanishka.
Saravanan used to work as a medical representative, but his employer recently shut down the company. After this, he ran a pharmacy which was also shut down after it ran into debt. “Manoharan sold some property and helped settle the debts. Despite this, Saravanan still had a debt of nearly Rs. 6 lakh,” said Red Hills police inspector, Karunakaran.
On Sunday, the family had gone to attend a birthday party.
“Once they got back Saravanan offered his father-in-law a drink. He had bought two bottles of alcohol and gave his father-in-law a drink from one of them. Malarvizhi is suspected to have drunk from the other bottle which was not sealed properly. She collapsed soon after and was rushed to a hospital where she was declared brought dead,” said the officer.
Saravanan then rushed home from the hospital. “There, he mixed potassium salts and sugar in water and gave it to his wife who was eight months pregnant and his daughter, before consuming it himself. When Manoharan got home, he found Saravanan and his family dead,” said the officer.
The bodies were sent for a post-mortem examination.
“We believe Saravanan planned to kill his father-in-law in order to acquire the property and pay off his debts. And so, he had poisoned the alcohol. But Malarvizhi accidentally drank from one of the poisoned bottles. We are waiting for a chemical analysis to confirm this. Since the plan backfired and his mother-in-law died, we believe Saravanan panicked and committed suicide,” said the inspector.
Manoharan’s brother said that Manoharan was very fond of his family. He never spent a day away from his wife. “They had struck a deal never to live away from each other. He also ensured that all his daughters stayed nearby,” he said.
