CHENNAI: Three persons, including a couple, committed suicide in separate places in and around the city since Sunday, police said.
In Injambakkam off the East Coast road, high drama was witnessed when a woman set herself on fire upset over her husband’s drinking habit. Her husband, a lorry driver, embraced her and both of them succumbed to burns at the KMC Hospital early on Monday.
Earlier in the day, driver Dhanasekaran (40) had bought meat to cook to his home at Periyar Street in Injambakkam.
He then stepped out and returned home in an inebriated state a few hours later. Enraged by his act, his wife Mahalakshmi (38) picked up a quarrel with him before dousing herself with kerosene and threatened to kill herself.
Dhanasekaran too poured kerosene on himself and began searching for a match box. As he could not find one, he went out asking for one at a nearby shop, but was turned away. By the time he reached home, his wife had already set herself on fire.
Meanwhile, Dhanasekaran ran to his wife and embraced her and suffered burns. Their daughter, who witnessed the incident, came running out of the house looking for her elder brother who was playing in the neighbourhood.
The couple was rescued by neighbours and moved to the KMCH. Mahalakshmi, who suffered more than 90 per cent burns, succumbed a little after midnight, while Dhanasekaran died early in the morning. Neelankarai police later handed over the bodies to the relatives after an autopsy.
Meanwhile, in Royapettah, a 19-year-old II year B Com student of a city college was found hanging from the ceiling of his residence on Monday morning.
A failed love affair was suspected to be the reason behind the suicide. Police said Mani aka Vignesh was found dead by his family after they broke into his room, when he did not come out for a long time. A suicide note was recovered that said that he was not happy with his life and that he loved his parents.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the teen had gone out with his girlfriend, belonging to Teynampet, on Sunday evening. He had reportedly dropped the girl somewhere in the city and returned home.
The girl did not turn up at her house and her family has lodged a complaint with the police. A search is on for the missing girl.