Kochi: Ernakulam rural police investigating the death of three family members in Angamaly said the couple was planning to take the lives of themselves and their two children.
Sanal Sasikumar (39) and his wife Sumi Sanal (37) were found dead in their home on September 27. Sanal was found hanging while Sumi was charred. Their four-year-old son, who suffered severe burns, died the next day from his injuries, while their older child, eleven years old, escaped with minor injuries. The younger child suffered 100% burns and was placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit of a private hospital due to the burns.
“Financial constraints appear to be the cause of this tragedy. According to the older child, the family went out to dinner that night and then went to bed. He woke up to find the house on fire and tried to escape. He managed to get out with the help of neighbors who broke the door. He also saw his father hanging. The child is not sure who started the fire suicide A note was found which was probably written by the mother,” the officer said, adding that they also found poison in the house.
Local residents rushed to the house around 11:15 p.m. on Friday, alarmed by the screams of children and the fire raging in the house. Residents had to break down the door, which was locked from the inside. One of the neighbors managed to get the children outside, the sources say, adding that the neighbors immediately took them to the hospital.
The police completed the investigation and autopsy and handed over the bodies to relatives. The couple ran a service center in Thuravur that helped citizens under various government schemes.
Suicide is preventable and help is at hand. People in distress can call Maitri on 0484-2540530.