Octogenarian Jumps into Adyar, Dies

CHENNAI: An 86-year-old man committed suicide by jumping into the Adyar from the Thiru-vi-ka bridge after he left home on the pretext of buying a hearing aid machine, on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said the deceased M Thirunavukarasu, a resident of Ice House and a retired member of Military Engineering Services (MES), was mourning the loss of his wife and suffered hearing problems as well.

The ex-serviceman had four sons and a daughter. His eldest son is serving in the defence forces and is placed in Chennai. He contacted one of his sons and asked for a car to be arranged so that he could go out and buy a hearing aid machine.

While travelling in the car, Thirunavukarasu asked the driver to stop the vehicle on Thiru-Vi-Ka bridge saying that he needed to attend nature’s call.

Since the traffic was high at 10.30 am, driver Antony slowed down but could not pull over. Thirunavukarasu shouted at him to stop the car, he slowed down the car further. Thirunavukarasu got down from the car while Antony parked a few metres away. Suddenly Thirunavukarasu climbed over the parapet wall and jumped into the river even as onlookers tried to stop him.

Some onlookers alerted the control room and information was passed on to Adyar police station. Cops rushed to the spot and by that time the body was afloat. Since the current was high, the body moved down the river. Fire and Rescue Services personnel from Guindy station recovered the  body by around 11 am.

For the past four days Thirunavukarasu had been staying with his daughter. Family members told the cops that the octogenarian always wanted the family members to act according to his will and was dejected after his wife died. He had to regularly undergo dialysis and was upset over his health condition.