Day of despair: Two families commit suicide in Kerala

Four members of a family, including the father, mother and 20-year-old twin sisters were found hanging in their house at Kuzhalmannam in Palakkad late Sunday night. The deceased have beenidentified as Balakrishnan (60), his wife Radhamani(53), and their daughters Darshana and Drishya. The body of the family members were found at 10 pm on Sunday. The body of Balakrishnan and Radhamani was found in the room near the kitchen while others were found in the next room.  

Police suspect that the parents committed suicide with their daughters over a dispute related to the marriage of their elder son Dipuraj, who married against their will. The police have recovered a suicide note from the house.   

In another incident, four members of a family, including two small children, were found dead at Thonnakkal, in Thiruvananthapuram. Kulathoor native Sreekumar (38), his wife Sobha(34), daughter Vaiga(6), and one-year-old Vinayak were found dead at a rented house.  Sreekumar was found hanging while the others were found dead in the bedroom.

Police suspect that Sreekumar, who was a contract employee with Milma, the public sector dairy product company, had huge financial liabilities. His relatives said that Sreekumar was also into real estate business and lottery dealings.  The police have recovered a suicide note stating that someone tricked him out of ₹41 lakh.

Corporation councillor Vikraman said that there was no news about family members since Sunday. "Friends and relatives reached the spot on Sunday night and sought the help of police to open the doors of the house.”