TIRUPUR:A Couple from Kathirkambam in Puducherry, Rajagopal (37) and Anitha (32) (names changed), committed suicide in Tirupur on Sunday, depressed over their 16-year-old daughter being raped by a boy with whom she was in a relationship.
Rajagopal and Anitha, both daily wage workers, have five children — two girls and three boys. The eldest, a Class 12 student, was recently raped by a boy she had been dating. The family had lodged a complaint with the Korimedu police in Puducherry and the boy was arrested under the The Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Nevertheless, the couple were in extreme mental agony. After the girl had received treatment at a hospital in Puducherry, the couple, along with the girl, travelled to Vilupuram. Fuelled by stress, they went on to Dindigul, Tirupur and Palani.
They returned to Tirupur on Friday evening. A the Kovil Vazhi bus stop on Dharapuram Road, they stopped to get soft drinks and got a bottle each. Rajagopal and Anitha, however, had the drink after mixing some pesticide in it, said police. Moving on from the shop, the couple started throwing up. Hearing the daughter cry out for help, people in the vicinity called for the 108 ambulance.
They were admitted to the Tirupur Government Hospital. While Rajagopal died without responding to treatment, Anitha, who was moved to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital after her condition worsened, died later, police said.The girl has been sent to a children’s home in Tirupur.