COIMBATORE: A Coimbatore couple's attempt to end life by consuming poison after being weighed down by mounting debt kills the wife and puts the husband in critical condition at the hospital on Wednesday.

Natraj (73), a farmer from near Thondamuthur, and his wife Saraswathi (63) lived with their married son, Vijayakumar (39), who is a vegetable merchant at Thondamuthur market.

Vijayakumar and his father pledged their house to borrow Rs 47 lakh to settle the losses incurred by leasing out farmland.

The son also incurred Rs 15 lakh in his vegetable business. The loss estranged him from his wife, who left with their children to her parent's house nine months ago, according to police.

Distressed by the unfortunate series of events caused by the debt and their son's domestic issue, the elderly couple decided to end their lives.

The couple went about their regular morning routine and locked themselves inside their room. Suspicious of their room being locked for a long time, Vijayakumar broke open the door and found his parents unconscious with frothing at their mouths, as they had consumed pesticide, police said.

With the help of his neighbours, Vijayakumar rushed his parents to Government Medical College and Hospital in Coimbatore. Saraswathi was declared to be dead before she was brought to the hospital, while Natraj was brought in critical condition and is undergoing intensive treatment. A police inquiry is underway.