Unable to bear the grief of losing his lady love who hanged herself to death a week ago, a 19-year-old youth residing in Aminjikarai committed suicide on Thursday.
According to police sources, Lokesh, grandson of a Corporation Councillor Jeevarathinam alias Jeeva Theeran, was alone at home when the incident occurred. His mother, who had gone to his sister’s school, found the house locked from inside. Despite repeated knocks on the door, there was no response. Sensing something amiss, the 19-year-old’s mother peeped into the house and found Lokesh hanging from a noose made from her saree, police said.
With the help of her neighbours, she then broke into the house, lowered him and rushed him to a private hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
The upset family then took back Lokesh’s body, without informing the police, in order to avoid a postmortem. While the family was preparing for the last rites, their neighbours tipped off the Aminjikarai Police.
Inspector Arockia Raveendran, who reached their residence, informed the family of the legal repercussions. He told them that an autopsy was mandatory and moved the body to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital.
According to sources, Lokesh was in a relationship with Sangeetha, his long-time neighbour and a BA Economics student from a city college. The two used to quarrel frequently, but patched up quickly. The quarrels often created ripples in both families, who approved of the relationship.
Though both families were supportive of the couple, elders in Lokesh’s house had asked him to wait for another three years to marry Sangeetha as his sister had to be married off before him, as per their family custom.
As the two quarrelled often, Sangeetha’s widowed mother Nirmala, a nurse in a neighbourhood hospital, shifted their residence to Kannaiya Street in Aminjikarai around 20 days ago. On July 4, Sangeetha, who was Nirmala’s only child, hanged herself to death. “Since then, Lokesh was blaming himself for the death. Loneliness prompted him to take the drastic step,” the boy’s father said.