Youth hangs self three days after girlfriend's suicide

A love story has ended on a tragic note in the City. A 26-year-old founder of a technology start-up reportedly hanged himself to death at his house in Someshwara Nagar, Yelahanka New Town on Wednesday evening, just three days after his girlfriend killed herself in a similar fashion on Sunday.

The couple, who courted for seven years, were dejected as the chances of their union had dimmed.

Suraj Kumar, who was running TranTech, an IT start-up on New BEL Road, was crestfallen when his 23-year-old girlfriend, Mouna, an MBA graduate, reportedly hanged herself at her Matthikere house at the weekend.

Despite the couple belonging to the same caste, their families opposed their alliance. After much persuasion by Suraj Kumar, his family had agreed recently but Mouna’s parents continued to be vehement in their opposition.

When her father Narasimha Murthy, a small-time businessman, refused to budge, Mouna allegedly took the extreme step. She did not leave a death note.

Murthy, however, reportedly tried to hide the real motive for his daughter’s alleged suicide. In a statement to Yeshwanthpur police, he said Mouna suffered from an “inexplicable” stomach pain and ended her life when she could not bear it any more.

Sources in Suraj Kumar’s family said Murthy’s refusal was “surprising”. The reasons were best known to Mouna’s family, they added. “Mouna’s death left Suraj heartbroken. He could not recline himself to the fact that she was no more. He did not even step out of the house since the incident. We tried hard to console him but to no avail,” his father Raveendra Kumar said in his statement to the police.

On Wednesday, only Suraj Kumar and his mother were at home after his father and elder brother, Anil Kumar, left. Around 4 pm, his mother went to the terrace to spread the clothes but came downstairs in less than 15 minutes. She found the main door locked.

She called for him but he did not respond. She then called up Anil Kumar who rushed home. He broke open the door only to find Suraj Kumar hanging from the ceiling fan in the hall. Suraj was rushed to the Baptist Hospital but was declared brought dead.

In a purported handwritten half-page death note in Kannada, Suraj Kumar apologised to his family for the extreme step and said he could no longer live in a world where there was no Mouna, police sources said.

He also said he did not have any financial commitment but wanted his family to give Rs one lakh each to his two friends Ravi and Sunil who, he said, needed financial help. The Yelahanka New Town police have booked a case of unnatural death.

The body was handed over to the family after a post-mortem was conducted at Yelahanka Government Hospital on Thursday.