Elderly couple found dead

An elderly couple was found dead in their home in Thirumullaivoyal on Tuesday morning.

Police suspect they died of poisoning, but whether the couple committed suicide or were murdered, is yet to be ascertained. Police identified the deceased as K. Nagarajan (70), a retired Tangedco employee, and his wife Radhammal (60), residents of Kulakkarai Street.

On Tuesday morning, the couple’s tenant who lived on the first floor of their house, called the couple’s son Anbarasan, who resides nearby, as a foul smell was emanating from the ground floor. Neighbours had last seen the couple on Sunday morning.

Thirumullaivoyal police arrived and entered the house to find Radhammal’s decomposed body in the bedroom. Nagarajan’s body was found in the bathroom.

The bodies were sent for a post-mortem examination, where doctors confirmed there were no injuries.

Nagarajan and Radhammal were suffering from various ailments due to their age. They were living alone in their house, the top portion of which was rented. Two other portions were empty.

“They have two sons and two daughters but no one took care of them. On Friday morning, Anbarasan had an argument with his parents over the partition of the property. He also told them they should not use the front gate as new tenants were expected to arrive there soon,” said an officer.

A murder for gain has not been ruled out due to the absence of jewellery on Radhammal’s body.

“Even her daughters do not know whether she wore any jewellery as they had not seen her in three months. However, gold jewellery, silver artefacts and land documents kept in the almirah were untouched and there were no signs of a break-in,” the officer added.

As the couple were ill, they did not cook in the house but bought food, and the house was unkempt, police said.

Investigators believe they may have been severely depressed and could have committed suicide by mixing poison in their food.