Couple end lives in Ennore lodge over financial problems

CHENNAI: A couple, who had booked a room at a lodge in Egmore, reportedly killed themselves a few hours after they checked in early on Tuesday morning. Their daughter, who had accompanied them, found her parents dead in the room when she woke up.

Police said Krishnavel, 56, and his wife Uma, 36, stayed in Shenoy Nagar with their children — Tarun, a college student, and Keerthi, a Class XII student. Krishnavel, a native of Tirunelveli, moved to the city three decades ago to set up an aluminium firm in Manali.

Around 5am on Tuesday, Krishnavel checked into the lodge with his wife and daughter. Police said Keerthi was not told why they were staying at the lodge. She fell asleep and woke up around 6.30am. She started to panic on finding her parents unresponsive. On reaching the spot, police found a bottle of pesticide and a suicide note, purportedly written by the couple, at the spot.

“The couple are suspected to have had problems related to business and faced financial burden,” said an investigating officer. In the note, Krishnavel mentioned the names of three people, from whom he said he had borrowed money for his business. Since he suffered losses, he had pledged his land but the lenders had cheated him, leaving him more upset. Police sent the bodies for postmortem to the government hospital in Royapettah.