Woman kills speech-hearing impaired son, commits suicide

The deceased were identified as Ashwini (24) and Sakthivel (2) and are survived by her husband Mahesh (37), a painter, and elder son Pradeep (4). Mahesh and Ashwini, who were married for over six years, stayed at Thelliyar Agaram. They had spent Rs 3 lakh for medical expenses on Pradeep, who was born speech-hearing impaired.

While Pradeep is undergoing speech training and can hear now, the parents found out that their second son Sakthivel, too, did not respond to calls and took him to the doctor. When the doctors told them that Sakthivel too suffers the same problem, Ashwini was allegedly dejected for the last few days.

On Friday, Ashwini asked Mahesh to leave Pradeep at her parents’ house in Mangadu. When Mahesh returned home around 1.30 pm, he found the door locked from inside. When he broke open the door, he found Ashwini hanging from ceiling and Sakthivel lying unconscious on the bed.

On information, SRMC police rushed them to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, where both were declared brought dead. Police said that Ashwini smothered Sakthivel with a pillow before committing suicide by hanging.

Had Mahesh returned home earlier, he could have saved two lives, said police. A case has been registered and an RDO inquiry has been ordered.