Salem couple buried in debts, ends life

According to police, Mani (56) from Suramangalam, near Salem, was into selling Aavin milk packs at a booth put up in front of his house. Their two daughters were married off and settled elsewhere.

Villagers, as usual, turned up from early morning to buy milk. As the doors remained locked and with no response for a long time despite repeated knocking, they looked through the window and found Mani and his wife Kanmani (49) hanging. Following this, the neighbours and relatives broke open the door and brought down the bodies of the couple. On receiving information, a police team led by Suramangalam Inspector Dhanasekar (in-charge) arrived and sent their bodies for a post-mortem at Salem Government Hospital.

Preliminary inquiries by the police revealed that the couple borrowed over Rs 2 lakh for the marriage of their second daughter a few years ago. A few days ago, the lenders locked up his house demanding their money back. Then, Mani sought some more time to return the money. Depressed over the developments, the couple took the extreme step. A case has been registered and the police are investigating to know if it was a case of harassment due to usury. Further investigations are on.