M Arun (33) and his wife Sivagami (33) in Villupuram committed suicide after killing their three children by consuming cyanide last night in Sitherikarai. The extreme step was taken allegedly due to debts accumulated because of Arun's addiction to lottery tickets.
His three daughters were identified as Priyadarshini (4), Yuvasri (3) and Bharathi, who was three-months-old.
Arun had recorded a video citing the reason for suicide which he sent to his friends on social media. On seeing the video, his friends and acquaintances rushed to his house and found the door locked from inside. They alerted the Villupuram taluk police station. Police broke open the door, found Arun and his family members lying unconscious and rushed them to a government hospital in Mundiampakkam where they were declared dead on arrival.
