The deceased, R Vinoth (32), was an air conditioner mechanic who used to live with his wife, Kavitha, and two children, Kavin alias Navin (3) and Praveen alias Sakthi (1), in his own house at Jeeva Nagar in Korukkupet. A month ago, Kavitha had left for her parents’ house in Ponneri in Tiruvallur allegedly after a quarrel with Vinoth and died by suicide. 

Vinoth was depressed over her death and did not attend work properly since then. He brought his children from Ponneri to Korukkupet last week. 

On Saturday morning, as Vinoth did not come out of the house even after a long time, the neighbours alerted his mother, who rushed there with her other son and broke open the door. Inside, they found the two children lying unconscious on the floor and Vinoth’s body hanging from the ceiling. 

The children were rushed to Government Stanley Medical College Hospital, where they were declared brought dead. There were no signs of poisoning or strangulation, so the police suspect that they could have been smothered to death with pillows. The bodies were sent for post-mortem examination to ascertain the cause of death. 

The RK Nagar police registered a case and further investigation is on. Officials said Kavitha’s suicide and Vinoth’s decision to kill their children remain a mystery, as the couple lived well in the locality.