CHENNAI: In a shocking incident, an elderly couple, who were allegedly abandoned by their three sons, committed suicide at Sembiyan in Perambur on Wednesday night. They were identified as Gunasekaran (62) and Selvi (58), living in a rented house on Melpatti Ponnappan Street.
“Usually, they sit out in the evenings, but on Wednesday the neighbours could not see them. When their calls went unanswered, the door was broken and the couple was found lying unconscious,” police said. They were rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared them brought dead.
According to the police, they have three sons. “One of them is an auto driver and another works in a private company. Both are married and stay in the same locality. The third son who does odd jobs usually does not come home and is a drunk,” said the officer.
Earlier Gunasekaran was a carpenter, but recently started working as a watchman in a tennis court nearby.
“During the lockdown, he lost his job and was unable to pay the house rent. The sons were suffering the same fate and did not visit during the past few months,” said the officer.
The police recovered a suicide note from the house. It read, “Nobody is the responsible for the suicide. Consider us as orphans and kindly perform the last rites.” The bodies were moved to the government hospital and the Sembiyan police registered a case and further investigations are on. Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on Tamil Nadu’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.