PANRUTI: Depressed by crop failure, a 35-year-old sugarcane farmer committed suicide on Sunday night, along with his wife, after killing his two children, aged five and three, at Vegakollai village near Panruti, where the bodies were found hanging from a tree in a dense cashew grove.The incident, which sent shockwaves in the district, came to light when a villager saw the bodies in the forest-like area and informed the police. The farmer Deivalingam, who was cultivating sugarcane on a leased two-acre land, lost the crop in the recent rains and heavy winds. He might have had a debt of Rs 3 lakh, the villagers said.Though no money-lender had put pressure on Deivalingam, he took his wife Kalaiselvi (30), son Kalaimurugan and daughter Kaviya to the forest on his motorcyle at 6 pm and hung the children with a saree. Then the couple killed themselves, also using sarees as noose.Neighbours said Deivalingam may have planned to commit suicide in his house as they found sarees hanging there too. “He might have given up the plan fearing that the screams of the children might invite the attention of the neighbours and gone to the forest,” a villager said.Deivalingam’s father Jayaraman committed suicide by consuming poison three years ago.The news of the family of Deivalingam hanging from a tree in Vegakollai drew hundreds of people from nearby villages like Arasadikuppam, Chathiram, Chinnathondamadevi, Pavaikulam and Ayeepettai to the spot on Monday.The grove resonated with the wails and screams of women gathered there even before the police removed the bodies to send them for postmortem at the government hospital. Neyveli MLA Sivasubramanian also visited the spot.The incident came to light after people saw Deivalingam’s motorcycle parked on the road, about 50 feet away from the tree in the thicket, for a long time in the morning and grew suspicious. When they went inside the grove, they saw the bodies dangling from the branches and alerted the police.Villagers remember Deivalingam as a hardworking farmer, who was ambitious and wanted to come up in life fast. “While riding his bike, he will not even let another vehicle overtake him,” a grieving relative told ‘Express’.A suicide note, reportedly found with the deceased, mentioned the names of all those who had lent him money, with a word of gratitude. However a part of the note was found blotched due to the rains. Deivalingam’s neighbour said that his wife, Kalaiselvi, was very fond of their children, Kalaimurugan and Kaviya, and never let them remain out of her gaze. He said, “I guess that Deivalingam might have let his wife hang first as she would have been able to watch her children being hung. Then he should have killed the children before killing himself.” Bleeding injuries in the legs of the children suggest that they might have tried to run away. However, the dense thicket of trees and darkness might have hampered their bid to escape.Based on a complaint filed by Village Administrative Officer Aathimoolam, DSP Arockiam registered a case and began investigations.
Comments
0 comment