CHENNAI: A 36-year-old man allegedly murdered his wife and two children and hanged himself at his apartment at Perungudi.
The incident came to light on Sunday, when neighbours, suspicious that the apartment remained locked, called the police.
The cops broke open the front door and found the bodies. The deceased were identified as Manikandan, his wife Tharaga Priya (30), and their sons Tharan (11) and Thagan, who was 18 months old.
Preliminary enquiries with the man's friends suggested that he was under severe stress due to his unpaid debts. This stress could have led him to take the extreme step, police said.
According to them, Manikandan, who hailed from Gobichettipalayam, did not go to work for the past three months for unknown reasons. His parents had died recently and, six months ago, he moved to the Perungudi flat with his family..
As per the neighbours' statements, the couple used to quarrel often over the debts.
Police believe that during one such argument, Manikandan,in a fit of rage, could have killed his wife and kids and hanged himself. Looking at the scene of the crime, the police said that Manikandan must have first murdered his wife and then strangled his two sons and lastly hanged himself.
The bodies were recovered on Sunday and sent to Government Royapettah Hospital for postmortem. The police are conducting forensic investigations to ascertain the time of the deaths.
The police said that Manikandan had come to Chennai from the US where he was working for two years.
Manikandan’s relatives have arrived in Chennai. The police said that further investigations and enquiries would reveal more details.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on TN’s health helpline 104 and Sneha's suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)