A family of four, including two teenagers, was found dead in their house at Chelamattom near Perumbavoor on Thursday morning.
Biju, 46, wife Ambily, 40, and their 15-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son were found hanging in two different rooms. The family used to sell milk, and the incident came to light when a woman from the neighbourhood came to collect milk found an empty milk bottle and the door closed.
There was no response despite repeated knocks on the door, and it was then that the woman noticed a note kept beneath the empty bottle. The note reportedly said there was no milk for the day, and that “the family was going to die.” It also referred to debts and the amount owed by the family.
Subsequently, the woman mobilised people from the neighbourhood who broke open the door, only to find the family members dead. They alerted the Perumbavoor police who rushed to the scene. Financial issues faced by Biju after a chit fund he used to run had gone bust reportedly drove the family to the extreme step.
It is learnt that Biju had asked his debtors to drop in at his home to get the dues cleared on Thursday.
The police found two separate notes addressed to two women in the immediate neighbourhood with whom Ambily used to have close contact.
Biju, it is learnt, had been to Thodupuzha reportedly to raise funds, probably to pay off debts.
Scribblings found on the walls of the house mentioned a few names, reportedly of the family’s relatives, with a message not to let them see the dead bodies. The police said the family was not in good terms with their relatives.
Forensic experts inspected the house. The bodies were shifted to Government Medical College, Kalamassery.
Suicide prevention helpline : 0484-2540530
