On Tuesday, police said Lekha and her daughter Vaishnavi had set themselves ablaze inside their home in Neyyattinkara, a suburb to the south of Thiruvananthapuram after facing heat over bank loan default.In a major turning point in the case involving the suicide of a woman and her daughter in Neyyattinkara in Kerala which could potentially change the course of the investigation, the police Wednesday recovered a suicide note from the home that links the deceased’s family members to the suicides.
The suicide note, whose authenticity could not be independently verified, allegedly pins the blame for the suicides of Lekha (42) and Vaishnavi (19) on the former’s husband Chandran, her mother-in-law Krishnamma, Krishnamma’s sister Shantha and Shantha’s husband Kashi. The note by the mother-daughter duo purportedly speaks of mental harassment by Chandran and his family over issues arising out of dowry and non-repayment of a bank loan. Chandran and three family members have been taken into custody by the police and will be questioned.
READ | Unable to repay loan, Kerala woman, her daughter commit suicide
On Tuesday, police said Lekha and her daughter Vaishnavi had set themselves ablaze inside their home in Neyyattinkara, a suburb to the south of Thiruvananthapuram after facing heat over bank loan default. It was reported that they had taken the extreme step after bank officials threatened to initiate recovery proceedings and confiscate the home.
Chandran had told The Indian Express on Tuesday, “I availed the loan for constructing the house in 2003. I had repaid Rs 5 lakh, but could not complete the loan due to a financial crisis. The bank wanted me to pay another sum of Rs 6.80 lakh, including interest. I had pleaded with the bank to give me more time, I was willing to sell the house to repay the loan. But my wife and daughter were upset over the threat and took this extreme step.”
But now, the recovery of the suicide note points to trouble within the family of having influenced the duo to take the extreme step. The note purportedly alleges that Chandran and his mother stood in the way of the home being sold to repay the bank loan.
A senior police official, while confirming the arrest of Chandran and the others, declined to elaborate on the details of the suicide note.
