A 28-year-old man allegedly committed suicide on Sunday by hanging himself from a tree near his house in Minnurpet village in Vellore Taluk after his wife gave birth to a girl baby on March 29. Interestingly, the victim had got married to the woman, his lover, a week ago.
Preliminary inquiry by the police with the family members and relatives of Ramachandran, who was working as a driver in a private ambulance service, revealed that he was unhappy and mentally depressed since his wife Pavithra (22) had given birth to a girl baby.
The inquiry further revealed that Ramachandran, who belonged to Vanniya Community, and Pavithra, who belonged to the SC community, were in a relationship for the past two years. After Pavithra, a native of Periyapalayampakkam, became pregnant ten months ago, Ramachandran began avoiding her.
The girl’s family and the elders in the village managed to arrange for a registered marriage for Pavithra, who was then nine and a half-months-pregnant. Though Ramachandran was not interested, Ramachandran married Pavithra on March 25.
Two days after the marriage, Pavithra was admitted to the Government Vellore Medical College Hospital at Adumkamparai for delivery. She was delivered of a girl child on March 29, four days after the marriage. “Ramachandran was drinking excessively and used to tell his relatives and friends that he had made a big blunder. After he came to know that a girl baby was born, he was very upset,” the police, quoting Ramachandran’s father Selvaraj’s complaint copy, said.
Ramachandran committed suicide by hanging himself from a mango tree next to his house. His family members were shocked to see him hanging around 6 am on Sunday. They alerted the police, who visited the spot and lowered the body. It was sent to the GVMCH, where his wife was admitted, police added.
In his complaint, Selvaraj had stated that his son might have taken the extreme step due to depression since his wife had a girl child. The Vellore Taluk Police registered a case under Section 174 CrPC and are investigating further.