Distressed homemaker poisons kids, hangs self

A 30-year-old homemaker poisoned her two children on Monday night and hung herself at her residence in Manorayanapalya in Hebbal.

Police said Pushpavathy had been married for ten years to Nagaraj, a cab driver who worked for the Embassy Group, and has an eight-year-old son Jeevan and a five-month-old baby daughter yet to be named.

They said Nagaraj and Pushpavathy, who hails from Theerthahalli in Shivamogga, got married amidst strong opposition and lived at a rented house in Bengaluru.

Nagaraj came home at 10 pm after work and found the door to his house locked. His wife did not respond to his calls. After repeated attempts, Nagaraj and a few neighbours broke open the door and found the children lying unconscious and Pushpavathy hanging from the ceiling on a rope she tied using a step ladder.

The baby daughter was on the bed frothing from the nose and mouth, while Jeevan was on the floor. Police are not sure about the kind of poison Pushpavathy had used to kill the children.

Tough life

During the inquiry, Nagaraj told the police that they had a tough life for the past ten years and estrangement from her family may have prompted Pushpavathy to end her life. Pushpavathy had never been to her parents’ place after marriage.

Police found a death note allegedly written by Pushpavathy, in which she said she was ending her life due to dejection. She said no one was responsible for her death. Police are awaiting a complaint from Pushpavathy’s parents who might accuse Nagaraj of abetment.

“We have shifted the bodies to the cold storage at a morgue and have locked the house for ‘panchanama’ after Pushpavathi’s parents’ arrival as evidence should not be destroyed,” DCP North N Shashikumar said.

He also added that the police have asked for forensic analysis of the handwriting on the suicide note.