CHENNAI: An online trader, Devendra Kumar (48), killed his wife and two children by slitting their throats before taking his own life similarly at their house in Govindappa Naicker Street, Kothavalchavadi on Thursday. His financial status and loss in business are suspected to be behind the extreme step.
Kumar, an online trader left behind a suicide note for the City Police Commissioner. The suicide note along with a picture of the couple was pinned on the cupboard in the house.
“I have killed my family and committed self suicide. Kindly pardon me. I am solely responsible for this act,” read the single page note recovered by the Kothavalchavadi police from his house.
Devendra Kumar lived with his wife, Deepthi (38), daughter Surbhi (15) and son Manas (7) on a second floor portion at Govindappa Naicker Street. His parents, Vishambar Nath (80) and Jayadevi (68) live in a different portion of the same building, police said.
Jayadevi was the first to notice the family lying dead after she knocked on their house around 5.30am. Kothavalchavadi police reached the scene on information and moved the bodies to Government Stanley Hospital for post mortem.
On Wednesday night, Kumar had taken the family to a movie and killed them later using a new knife. “The murder happened after midnight. He had either poisoned them or sprayed on their faces to make them unconscious before killing them. His daughter who was sleeping in another room resisted. There were cut injuries on her hands,” police said.
Preliminary probe showed that Devendra Kumar had returned from Ghana in Africa only two months ago. “He was working there with his sister Jayashree for the past two years. They were into the online trading,” police said, adding that the man had also tried his hand in stock markets six years ago.
His wife was suffering from some health issues for the past ten years, according to police. A family friend told Express that the financial loss triggered the incident.