Five of family found dead in TN’s Virudhunagar

VIRUDHUNAGAR: In a tragic incident at Thiruthangal in Virudhunagar, five members of a family, including a two-month-old baby, were found dead inside their house around Thursday noon. Police suspect that Lingam (45) and his wife L Palaniammal (47), both government schoolteachers, may have died by suicide after poisoning daughter

B Anandavalli (27), son L Aditya (13), and Anandavalli’s two-month-old daughter Sasthika.

Though no suicide note was found, the baby had froth in the mouth, police said, hinting at possible poisoning. According to preliminary investigation, the couple had taken the extreme step due to debt of more than `3 crore. At 12.30pm, Thiruthangal police received a call from the neighbours of the family about the incident and a team rushed to the spot. “The neighbours grew suspicious as the family members had not stepped out of their house since Thursday morning. The couple were also not responding to the phone calls from their relatives. Some of the neighbours, who later went inside to check on them, found all of them dead,” sources said.

The bodies were sent to the Government Medical College in Virudhunagar for autopsy. Preliminary probe revealed that Lingam had debt trouble since 2014.

Debt mounted as victim unable to repay loans

Since he was unable to repay the loan, he started taking debt from several people and the debt burden became unmanageable. “Anandavalli, who had settled down in Chennai after marriage, had come home for her delivery,” sources said. Thiruthangal police have registered a case under IPC Section 174 and are investigating