<p>Chennai: A sonologist, his lawyer wife, and their two teenage children were found dead at their residence in upscale Anna Nagar on Thursday morning with police suspecting suicide due to huge debts that the couple incurred in running diagnostic centres in the city. </p><p>52-year-old Balamurugan, who owns at least four diagnostic centres in localities like Anna Nagar, and Red Hills, and his wife Sumathi, 47, were found hanging from the ceiling in one room and their children, Dasvanth (17), and Lingesh (15) dead in another room. </p><p>While police said they have launched a detailed investigation into the case, initial probe suggests this could be a case of mass suicide due to mounting debts. “So far, we have not found any suicide note from their residence. It is believed that the family had debts to the tune of Rs 5 crore and not being able to pay them could have led to the extreme decision,” a police officer told <em>DH</em>.</p>.Siddaramaiah writes to TN counterpart Stalin, requests Shivakumar to attend anti-delimitation meeting in Chennai.<p>The police are also investigating whether all of them died by suicide, the officer added.</p><p>Balamurugan, it is believed, availed loans from individuals and institutions to expand his business but ran into losses. </p><p>While Balamurugan was a sonologist, his wife was a practicing lawyer at the Madras High Court till about a few years ago before she quit her job to help prepare her elder son for board exams. The elder son was appearing for his board exams and was also a NEET aspirant.</p><p>Police sources said the suspected suicide came to light after their domestic help Revathi called the family’s driver Ramachandran on Thursday morning after her repeated knocks at the door failed to evoke any response. </p><p>It is also said that Revathi came to the family’s residence early in the morning after Ramachandran didn’t respond to her phone calls last night as she kept trying to reach him to seek advice on what tablet she should take for abdomen pain.</p><p>Ramachandran, Revathi, and the apartment’s guard broke into the house, only to find all the four dead in different rooms. After the driver reported the incident, the Tirumangalam police rushed there within minutes and sent the bodies to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for autopsy.</p><p>Tamil Nadu recorded the second highest number of suicides in the country at 19,834 in 2022-23, according to government data. </p>
<p>Chennai: A sonologist, his lawyer wife, and their two teenage children were found dead at their residence in upscale Anna Nagar on Thursday morning with police suspecting suicide due to huge debts that the couple incurred in running diagnostic centres in the city. </p><p>52-year-old Balamurugan, who owns at least four diagnostic centres in localities like Anna Nagar, and Red Hills, and his wife Sumathi, 47, were found hanging from the ceiling in one room and their children, Dasvanth (17), and Lingesh (15) dead in another room. </p><p>While police said they have launched a detailed investigation into the case, initial probe suggests this could be a case of mass suicide due to mounting debts. “So far, we have not found any suicide note from their residence. It is believed that the family had debts to the tune of Rs 5 crore and not being able to pay them could have led to the extreme decision,” a police officer told <em>DH</em>.</p>.Siddaramaiah writes to TN counterpart Stalin, requests Shivakumar to attend anti-delimitation meeting in Chennai.<p>The police are also investigating whether all of them died by suicide, the officer added.</p><p>Balamurugan, it is believed, availed loans from individuals and institutions to expand his business but ran into losses. </p><p>While Balamurugan was a sonologist, his wife was a practicing lawyer at the Madras High Court till about a few years ago before she quit her job to help prepare her elder son for board exams. The elder son was appearing for his board exams and was also a NEET aspirant.</p><p>Police sources said the suspected suicide came to light after their domestic help Revathi called the family’s driver Ramachandran on Thursday morning after her repeated knocks at the door failed to evoke any response. </p><p>It is also said that Revathi came to the family’s residence early in the morning after Ramachandran didn’t respond to her phone calls last night as she kept trying to reach him to seek advice on what tablet she should take for abdomen pain.</p><p>Ramachandran, Revathi, and the apartment’s guard broke into the house, only to find all the four dead in different rooms. After the driver reported the incident, the Tirumangalam police rushed there within minutes and sent the bodies to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for autopsy.</p><p>Tamil Nadu recorded the second highest number of suicides in the country at 19,834 in 2022-23, according to government data. </p>