The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Mystery shrouds death of family

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Mystery shrouds death of family

Staff Reporter

Couple, sons found dead in Begur, motive is as yet unclear

Relatives insist the couple's 14-year-old marriage was not under any sort of strain
Police say he was depressed over doing night shifts; colleagues are not convinced

— PHOTO: KPN

COLLECTIVE DEATH:Lakshmi, Murthy and their sons Yashu and Rohit.

Bangalore: Mystery shrouds the death of four members of a family in Vishwapriya Layout in Begur on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday morning.

Thirty-eight year old MICO employee S. Murthy was found hanging while his wife Lakshmi (35) and children Yeshwanth (12) and Rohit (9) appeared to have died after consuming poison, Electronics City Police said.

Frantic relatives

The heartbreaking end of an entire family came to light when police, alerted by Murthy's relatives, reached the house around 7.30 a.m. only to find it locked from inside. When the door was forced open, they found the children's body in one room and the wife's in the other. Murthy had hanged himself in the children's room. Police said the children and wife had died after consuming juice laced with poison.

Amidst sorrow and disbelief, confusion also reigned over the motive. Though the tragedy was described as a suicide pact, relatives insisted that the couple's 14-year-old marriage was not under any sort of strain. “We never saw signs of them fighting,” said Rangappa, Lakshmi's brother. “Their loans were paid off, they had two children who studied well, and he had a well-paying job. I see no reason why they should've done this,” he said.

Murthy had sent an SMS to his uncle Krishnappa, who stays in Koramangala around 11.30 p.m. on Monday that all the four had decided to commit suicide. The message had also sought to make it clear that no one was at fault.

Murthy's cousin, Vinod, who is Mr. Krishnappa's son, said Murthy had apparently followed up the SMS with a phone call at 1 a.m. “However, my father was asleep, and I saw the message only this morning,” he said.

The police also stumbled upon a suicide note allegedly written by Murthy. Curiously, it said the couple had taken the extreme step after he was transferred to another unit within MICO and was slated to be posted on night shift.

“Murthy was depressed after he was given the night shift. He wanted to quit but was not sure of getting another job,” said a police officer, inferring from the death note. “He feared for his children's financial security and with his wife's consent, the couple took this extreme step.”

Not buying it

Murthy had been working in MICO, Adugodi, for 15 years as a milling machine operator and his co-workers are not buying the police story.

“The night shift [from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.] was something he had done before and had no reason to be upset over,” said Jayanna, a colleague. Murthy's transfer within the company was done along with 300 others, he said, and this was routine in a company that manufactures according to demand of a product.

His co-workers said he was affable and always in good spirits.

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