3-year-old dies in suicide pact by family

CHENNAI: A suicide pact, drawn by a couple over a period of six months, took a tragic turn on Thursday night and resulted in the death of their three-year- old daughter.  A Kanniappan (38), his wife K Devanayagi (29), their children K Santhosh Kumar (10) and  K Janani (3), resided on VSV Koil Street,  Mylapore. Kanniappan, along with his brother Mohan, ran a welding shop on Dr Natesan Road, while Santosh was the student of an A-school in MRC Nagar. Six months ago, unable to come to terms with the fact that their daughter, Janani who was mentally challenged, the couple decided to end their lives along with their kids, ACP (Triplicane) S Senthil Kumaran told Express. “They settled all their debts and also prepared a list of their debtors,” he said.On Wednesday, Kanniappan booked a room in a hotel on Wallajah Road, Triplicane, furnishing a  ‘Sangiliyandapuram, Tiruchy’ address. But, their suicide plan did not materialise, after Kanniappan sister Parvathi, who stayed in Ambattur, unexpectedly called up and said that she intended to visit them the next day. She kept her word. On Thursday, after seeing off Parvathi, Kanniappan bundled his wife and kids into an autorickshaw and arrived at the hotel. Before checking into room 103, he posted two letters to his friends in Velachery and Triplicane, in a letter box adjacent to a nearby theatre. After a round of fruit juice inside their room, the couple gave their children sleeping tablets to swallow. The tablets that they had consumed, were meant for Kanniappan’s father Annamalai, “who died of cancer two years ago,” the ACP said.  “Janani was given one and Santhosh two, while Devanayagi took three tablets.” Kanniappan swallowed 10-15 pills, including those prescribed for blood pressure and diabetes, before poured liquid mosquito repellent into his mouth. Soon, all fell unconscious. Around 4 am, Santhosh got up and seeing his parents lying motionless, called his uncle Mohan of Abhiramapuram, the cop said. Mohan rushed to the hotel and took the quartet on an 108 ambulance to a private hospital on Greams Road. But, it was Janani who was ‘brought dead.’ Meanwhile, Devanayagi and Santhosh were said to be out of danger, while Kanniappan was under observation.The police recovered a suicide note written by Kanniappan from the hotel room. In the letter, he claimed that he and his wife were dejected over their daughter’s condition. Hence, they were resorting to suicide, it read.