SALEM: Alert tech-savvy city police foiled the suicide mission of a mother with her two children and rescued them from the tourist destination, Hogenakkal on Friday. Dissemination of the photographs of the three through WhatsApp helped in locating them promptly.
On receiving a complaint about the missing three from home, the Ammapet police uploaded their photographs on WhatsApp to facilitate their quick search. No wonder, it yielded fruit within a day!
According to Ammapet police, Raghuvaran (38, name changed), a local biscuit merchant, had suffered huge losses in his business. Having borrowed huge loans from relatives and friends, he found it difficult to repay them. On Thursday night, his wife, Rama (30, name changed), had suggested that the entire family including their son (8) and daughter (6), commit suicide either at Mettur dam or at Hogenakkal, rather than face the stigma of indebtedness.
But, Raghuvaran reprimanded his wife for harbouring such ideas.
Meanwhile, on Friday morning, he left home for some work. On returning home, he found his wife and children missing. A shell shocked Raghuvaran fantically searched for them with their relatives and finally lodged a complaint.
He told the police that his wife could be on a suicide mission with the kids either at Mettur dam or Hogenakkal. Ammapet Inspector J Nagarajan quickly gathered the photographs and sent them to his Hogenakkal and Mettur peers through WhatsApp.
In the evening, Hogenakkal police located the three at the bus stand. A special team brought them back to Salem and offered counselling and an inquiry, the three were united with a distraught Raghuvaran and sent home.