CHENNAI: In a tragic incident, a woman, her two children and their pet dog were found dead in their house in a suspected case of poisoning in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar on Saturday. The woman’s husband was found hanging from a ceiling fan in the building’s second floor with his veins cut. He was rescued and rushed to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, where his condition is said to be critical.
Palani (46), of Ramasamy street in Vetri Nagar, worked as a plumber and lived with his wife Bhavani (40), daughter Devadharshini (17) and son Pragadish (17) on the first floor of a three-storeyed building that he owned. His father Shanmugam lived on the ground floor.
On Saturday around 7 am, Shanmugam went to Palani’s house to have coffee as usual. Shanmugam saw their pet dog dead outside the house and told Palani about it, police said. “However, since the dog’s carcass was not removed even by 1 pm, Shanmugam again went to the house and was shocked to find his daughter-in-law and grandchildren lying dead inside the house.
He alerted neighbours and searched for Palani. He was found hanging on the second floor. They rescued him and rushed to a hospital,” police added. Thiru Vi Ka Nagar police rushed to the spot and sent the bodies for postmortem examination. Since Palani has not regained consciousness, police are not sure what led to the deaths. Preliminary probe revealed that Palani had huge debts.
“Only when Palani is able to respond to queries, we will know the truth,” a senior police official said.
Those having suicidal thoughts can seek assistance on Tamil Nadu Health Department’s helpline 104 or Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.