PALAKKAD: A man, his live-in partner and two children drowned in Bharathapuzha at Lakkidi in the district on Saturday. Police suspect it to be a case of suicide. The deceased were identified as Ajithkumar (37) of Vilakkithala in Palappuram, his live-in partner Viji (34) and children Aryananda (14) an Aswananda (6).
Police said the children were Viji's daughters from her first marriage. Police also recovered a suicide note from their house. The family was living in a rented house for the last two years at Lakkidi near the river. Viji was a native of Thrissur and was living with Ajithkumar for the past two years.
Police said that there were many criminal cases registered against Ajithkumar, including a murder case and ganja trafficking. He was accused of murdering his uncle in 2012 and the trial in the case is ongoing. The family members were mentally depressed over the case and the suicide note stated it as the reason for them to take the extreme step, the police said.
When his house was found open in the morning and his bike, mobile phone and footwear were found on the banks of the river, local people, police and fire and rescue services personnel launched a search in the river and the bodies were fished out by Saturday afternoon. The bodies were shifted to the district hospital for postmortem, the police said.
They said Ajithkumar had talked about suicide to some of his relatives and told about jumping into the river because of hardship and mental agony over the case.
Suicides are preventable and help is just a phone call away. Those in distress can call Maitri at 0484-2540530 or Emergency Medical Services at 0471- 2552056.
