'Perils of isolation'; Five of family found dead in locked home in Kochi, suicide note recovered

KOCHI: A suicide note blaming isolation was recovered from the house Vaduthala, Ernakulam, where five family members were found dead. Aswathy S Nair (37), her mother Y. Sreekumari (59), and Aswathy's children Keerthivan (14), Karnivan (4) and Akshitha (2), natives of Vilappilsala, Thiruvananthapuram, died in the incident. They were living in a rented house on Karshaka Road, Green Garden Lane.

The bodies, which were found around 8.30 am on Saturday, are two days old. The suicide note indicates that isolation following the suicide of Aswathy's husband, Akshat, and the blame from the neighbours led to the mass suicide.

The body was first discovered by the house owner’s brother, who lives nearby. When he rang the doorbell on Saturday morning, nobody responded. He then opened the door with a duplicate key and found Aswathy hanging from a fan near the hall. A councillor was called, and an inspection was conducted, and Sreekumari was also found hanging a little further away. Keerthivan was found dead in one bedroom, and Karnivan and Akshitha were found dead in another room. The children were lying wearing cooling shades and good clothes.

They had come to Kochi last February for the treatment of Keerthivan, who was mentally challenged. On July 13, Aswathy's husband, Akshat, committed suicide. They lived in a rented house of an expatriate family and were isolated from the public.

Suicide notes and juice bottles were found in the hall. Initial tests conducted by the police and forensic team confirmed that the juice was poisonous. It is believed that the death occurred on Thursday night. Since all the doors and windows were closed and the AC was on, the stench did not escape. Aswathy and Sreekumari's phones were taken into custody. The bodies, which have been shifted to the Kalamassery Medical College morgue, will undergo postmortem today. Sreekumari's husband is the late G. Surendran Nair.

The suicide note states that Akshat, who was a businessman, was an alcoholic and that he continued to drink despite being diagnosed with liver disease. This led to Aswathy being estranged from her husband. The police suspect that she had pre-planned to end her life as she had left her assets in a will to a charitable trust in December. Aswathy and her family were estranged from her brothers and her husband's family.

Akshat's mother, Usha, alleged that the reason for her son’s suicide was marital problems. also said that Akshat had marital problems that prevented her from focusing on his business. After Akshat's death, Aswathy and Usha had property disputes. Usha also said that Aswathy and her children left home after her death.

Usha also says that Aswathy took away Akshat's RD deposits and gold.