MANDYA: A 65-year-old textile merchant allegedly killed his wife and son before dying by suicide at his shop in Mandya in the early hours of Tuesday.
In his death note, he blamed the government’s Shakti free bus travel scheme, saying women travelled to cities to purchase clothes instead of buying from him, leading to heavy losses in his business and rendering him unable to repay the loan taken from private finance firms.
Prabhakar (65) strangled to death both his wife Jyothi (55) and son Santosh (30) at home, and later hanged himself to death at his shop. His son was married just a month-and-a-half ago. The tragedy occurred in Nehru Nagar in Mandya around 3.30 am, the police said.
Prabhakar, who was said to be under severe mental stress and depression, first strangled his wife Jyothi with a veil and later he also strangled his son Santosh when he came to his mother’s rescue. After both his wife and son died, Prabhakar went to his shop in Nehru Nagar and hanged himself.
Santosh’s newlywed wife was fast asleep when the tragedy was unfolding. She woke up in the morning, prepared breakfast and went to the room to wake up her mother-in-law when she found both Jyoti and Santosh dead. She alerted the neighbours and relatives, who informed the police.
Prabhakar’s death note was found at the suicide spot, in which he mentioned that financial hardship was the reason for his death and the end of his family. He also blamed the Shakti scheme, saying the local clothing trade completely collapsed as people are moving to cities to purchase clothes.
As the business was dull, he could not pay interest to private financial firms. If the loan was not repaid, agents from these companies would land at his doorstep and harass the family, he wrote. He also mentioned that he took the extreme step as he was scared of dishonour to his family and loss of his dignity.
Superintendent of Police Shobharani said, “The death note talks about loan harassment and business loss. For now, all three bodies have been sent for post-mortem. A case has been registered at the Mandya East Police Station and an investigation will also be conducted into the harassment by private finance companies.”