THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An elderly couple was found hanging in a private five-star hotel here. The deceased have been identified as Sugathan (70), native of Haripad's Chepad and his wife Sunila Sugathan (60). The room was taken five days ago. Police say the reason of suicide is financial liability. Their daughter got married in the same hotel a year ago.

At around 3 pm yesterday, the hotel staff knocked on the door for a long time to clean the room, but there was no response. Then their daughter Uttara and the museum police were informed. When the police arrived and opened the room, they found the couple hanging from a tall angler stand placed near the wall.

A suicide note was found in the room. The note says that her daughter's marriage took place in the same hotel and that her daughter is now pregnant and she should not be troubled because of this. Dead bodies are in Medical College Hospital Mortuary.

There are indications that Sugathan, who had a large fortune in the past, has recently been plagued by financial problems. He was doing business in Muscat for a long time. After returning to Kerala many years ago, he also ran a spare parts business in Chennai. As he got older, that too stopped.

In 2021, Sugathan bought a 2000 square feet house in Karipur Prakriti Gardens and started living with his wife. When he sold the house he bought for Rs 65 lakh last January, he got only Rs 35 lakh. Then he bought another house in Pandinjarekotta and started renovation. He stayed in a hotel as part of this. He did not come out of the room much. The hotel officials said that the food was brought to the room. Son-in-law: Girish.