A 28-year-old man was arrested on Friday after his wife and three children, including an infant, were found dead in their house in Salvanpettai near the Fort in Vellore.
The Police said Dinesh, a construction worker, was married to 25-year-old Jeevitha six years ago. The couple had three children — Akshaya, 6, Nandakumar, 5, and a six-month-old boy. Dinesh’s drinking habit led to frequent quarrel between them. As a result, Dinesh was living separately for more than a week.
On Thursday evening, after being informed by Jeevitha’s neighbours, her brother S. Jagadeeswaran broke open the door of the house and found his sister and her three children dead. On information, the police reached the spot and retrieved the bodies and sent them to Government Medical College Hospital in Vellore for post-mortem. “We have a complaint filed by the victim’s mother earlier. We have also detained the suspect [Dinesh] related to the case,” Albert John, Assistant Superintendent of Police, told The Hindu .
The south Vellore police registered a case under section 306 for abetment of suicide and section 174 (death due to suicide) of the Code of Criminal Procedure against Dinesh. Further investigation is on, the police said.
Constable dead
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Ajithkumar, a police constable attached to the 15th battalion of Tamil Nadu Special Police, was found dead in the police housing quarters in Sevur village near Katpadi on Friday. He was serving in the district for the past few months. No suicide note was found. Tiruvalam police near Katpadi have registered a case under Section 174 (death due to suicide) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
(The State’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050 offer counselling for those in distress.)
