■ Staff Reporter :
FINANCIAL debt, caused by
medical treatment of wife suffering from brain cancer, drove
a couple from Kerala to end
their lives. The couple consumed a Frooti drink laced with
poison late in the night at their
rented accomodation in
Gajanan Nagar area of Jaripatka
Police Station onThursday.The
incident came to the fore when
their 11-year-old daughter
woke up on Friday morning.
The deceased have been
identified as Riju Vijayan alias
Vijay Nair (42) and Priya Riju
Nair (40). The couple is a resident of Trivandrum, Kerala.
They were presently staying at
Gajanan Nagar, Jaripatka.
According to the police, Priya
was diagnosed with brain cancer. As a result, the family had
come to Nagpur for medical
treatment three months ago
and took a house on rent in
Gajanan Nagar. Every week,
Riju had to take his wife to the
hospital and spent at least Rs
20,000 every week for the treatment. As a result, Riju borrowed
money from relatives and
friends.
As the loan was to be paid
on July 1, he received calls from
lenders. Frustrated with the
financial debts, the couple
decided to end their lives. On
Wednesday afternoon, Riju
bought poison and Frooti.
After having dinner, Riju mixed
the poison in frooti, a favourite
drink of their daughter,
and consumed it late at night
when their daughter was sleeping. Vaishnavi woke up in the
morning only to see her
parents lying unconscious.
The
smell of poison in the room
made her vomit and she left the
house.
The house owner noticed
something suspicious and
opened the door only to see the
bodies lying on the floor.
Jaripatka Police rushed to the
spot after receiving the information and sent the bodies for
post-mortem. A case of accidental death was registered byJaripatka police.
According to police, Rijuwent to the market withVaishnavi on Wednesday andpurchased Frooti. He mixedpoison in the drink and consumed it with his wife.
However, the girl fell asleep inthe meantime.
When Riju came to Nagpur,
he used to show a cheque of
Rs 3.69 lakh to an auto-rickshawdriver which he used to travel
in. Riju even borrowed Rs10,000 from the driver on thepromise that he would returnthe money once the chequewould be encashed.