KOCHI: In a dreadful news that shocked Kochi, a young couple committed suicide after suffocating their children to death. Nijo (40), his wife Shilpa (32), and their children Abel (7) and Aaron (5) are the deceased. They were residents of North Kadamakudy.

The dead bodies were found on the upper floor of the ancestral house around 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. A suicide note has been found near the bedroom which says financial liability forced towards this horrendous decision. The note also mentioned that nobody offered help to drag the family out of the crisis. Shilpa convinced her family members that she was leaving for Italy on Tuesday.

Abel and Aaron are students of Infant Jesus Public School, Thundathumkadavu. Abel's neck had a scar mark that implies squeezing using a hand. There are fingernail marks on Shilpa's face too, which are believed to be those of a child. The post-mortem report indicates that the children were killed by suffocation.

Nijo is a construction worker and an artist. Nijo’s friend tried calling him a few times today morning but to no avail. This forced him to reach Nijo’s home, only to get shocked seeing Nijo hanging from a fan in the hall and Shilpa hanging from a hook on the ceiling. The friend immediately informed Nijo’s brother Tijo who lives downstairs. The door was thus broken open.

The Varapuzha police shifted the dead bodies to Kalamassery Medical College for post-mortem. The funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at 9 a.m. at St. Augustine's Church Cemetery, Kadamakudy.

It was ten years back that Nijo and Shipa got married. The couple always lived in the ancestral home and moved upstairs as per advice from Nijo’s mother to allow the downstairs space for newly married Tijo and his wife.

Nijo took a loan to renovate the upstairs space. Shilpa also made plans to go to Italy in 2018, to settle the debt. For this purpose, Nijo sold gold and gave five lakh rupees to the recruiting agency in Kodungallur. It was during this time that Covid took the world to a standstill. The pandemic dashed the Italy hopes of the family which further pushed them into the abyss of desperation.

Shilpa once cleared all the paperwork and started her travel to Italy. However, she was stopped in Abu Dhabi citing some flubs in documents. The agency did a shoddy job and never displayed any commitment to help her out. Shilpa was thus forced to return back to India.

Neighbours said they heard Nijo and Shilpa talking till 12 in the night. Tijo has informed the police that the couple only had a debt of five lakh rupees.