COIMBATORE: Two persons, who are running a private tuition centre, were arrested on Sunday in connection with the suicide of four persons of a family in Vadavalli. The two had allegedly lent Rs 25 lakh to the deceased woman and had been harassing the family to clear the loan. The arrested were identified as P Jayabharat (30) from Tata Nagar and his associate P Deepak (31) from Vallalar Nagar near Vadavalli.
According to sources, R Rajesh (34) an engineer from Thanjavur married B Lakshaya alias Sruthi (30), a PhD scholar from Nilgiris a year ago after becoming friends through Tiktok. Lakshaya was a divorcee and she had a 10-year-old daughter Yakshitha.
After marriage, the couple along with her daughter and Rajesh’s mother Prema (73) moved to a rented house at Kurinji Nagar in Vembu Avenue near Vadavalli. Following this, Lakshaya started to borrow money from his friend Jayabharat on an interest basis and the couple allegedly spent it to start a business and for a lavish life. Within a few months, the debt increased to more than Rs 25 lakh, said police.
Since Lakshaya delayed the repayment, Jayabharat along with his friend Deepak met Rajesh and asked to settle the money without delay. Recently, the arrested persons again met the couple in person at their house and allegedly forced them to settle the money immediately, which led them to the extreme step, said a police officer.
“In a note found at their house, they revealed the reason for the decision. Based on it, the investigation was carried out. It is suspected that all four family members died by suicide on Thursday evening,” police said.
(If in distress or having suicidal thought, call health department’s 104 helpline for counselling or 044- 24640050 for Sneha suicide helpline)