A day after P. Esakkimuthu, a labourer, set his wife, two children and himself ablaze at the Tirunelveli Collectorate, alleging harassment by a money lender, the district’s Superintendent of Police, P. Ve Arunshakthikumar, contended that it was mounting debt, and not usury, that drove the man to take the extreme step. While Esakkimuthu remains in a critical condition, his wife and children died on Monday evening.
“Since we are conducting a comprehensive probe to bring out the motives behind the tragic incident, the truth will prevail once the inquiry is completed within a week,” Mr. Arunshakthikumar told mediapersons here on Tuesday.
The official said that Esakkimuthu of Kasidharmam and his wife E. Subbulakshmi had borrowed Rs. 1.45 lakh from their house owner Muthulakshmi. Since the couple needed more money to take a house on lease, they got Ms. Muthulakshmi’s jewels, weighing 19 grams, pledged in a bank.
When the woman asked the couple to return her money and the jewels, they refused, and Ms. Muthulakshmi filed complaints, first with the Achchanpudhur police, and then with the Superintendent of Police, seeking action against the duo for refusing to return her money and jewels. Meanwhile, Esakkimuthu submitted four petitions with the Collector on September 4, 18, 25 and October 9, accusing Ms. Muthulakshmi of collecting exorbitant interest for the loan he had availed from her.
These petitions were also forwarded to the Achchanpudhur police station for inquiry.
Since Ms. Muthulakshmi’s husband Thalavai Raj was about to return from abroad, she was running from pillar to post to get back her money and her jewels, the SP said. When her efforts went in vain, she consumed poison, but survived.
According to Mr. Arunshakthikumar, when the police took up this case for a probe, they came to know that Esakkimuthu and Subbulakshmi had borrowed around Rs. 2.80 lakh from six others, including one Kannammal, from whom the couple had borrowed Rs. 65,000 and 48 grams of gold ornaments.
Even as the complaints filed by the affected persons against Esakkimuthu and his wife were mounting, the duo left Kasidharmam.
“Since the couple left for Tirupur after Ms. Muthulakshmi filed a complaint with the police, the summons served by the police, asking the couple to appear for inquiry, could not be handed to them. Moreover, the Village Administrative Officer concerned had certified that Esakkimuthu and Subbulakshmi had not been residing in Kasidharmam village for the past four months. Hence, the police could inquire only with Ms. Muthulakshmi in connection with the petitions filed by both the parties,” Mr. Arunshakthikumar said.
Meanwhile, other people affected by the couple also filed complaints with the police to get back their money.
It was against this backdrop that Esakkimuthu set himself ablaze along with his wife and children at the Collectorate, the SP said.
Esakkimuthu and Subbulakshmi had borrowed around Rs. 2.80 lakh from six othersP. Ve ArunshakthikumarTirunelveli SP
