Shocked by her husband’s death, a woman committed suicide after poisoning her 11-year-old son at their house in Kalyan Nagar in Chandra Layout early on Wednesday.
The deceased are Chitra Shekhar (38) and her son Jeevan, a class five student at a private school in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, residents of Shakti Garden on Nagarabhavi Road.
Chitra was married to one Jnanashekhar, (48), a native of Tamil Nadu. He had two sons— Praveen (21) and Prabhu (20)— from his first marriage.
Police said Jnanashekhar, who was running a tool manufacturing unit near Laggere, was severely injured after he was knocked down by a two-wheeler at Sumnahalli Junction on Magadi Road on September 7. He was rushed to a private hospital where he died on Wednesday.
Hearing this, a shocked Chitra went into a room and consumed insecticide after giving the same laced with soft drinks to Jeevan. Some time later, Prabhu and Chitra’s younger brother Srinivas found the two lying unconscious on the bed and rushed them to a hospital.
Jnanashekhar’s older brother Ramashekhar said Chitra was very attached to her husband and was depressed after his accident. “She would say that she would not survive if Jnanashekhar died. We tried to console her and told her that she should take care of the children. But, she took this extreme step,” Ramashekar said. However, some other family members blamed the hospital, saying that huge bill could have been a reason for her to take the extreme step.
The hospital authorities, however, said they were unaware of Jnanashekar’s wife’s suicide and had charged `5.4 lakh, which was nominal for his treatment. A hospital official said that the family paid `5.2 lakh and that the rest was waived.
Chandra Layout police registered a case.