DHARMAPURI: Weighed down by mounting debt, a 44-year-old man murdered his wife and daughter at their residence before ending his life by deliberately colliding his two-wheeler with a truck near Puravadai on the Salem–Bengaluru national highway on Tuesday.Police said C Santosh of Kottai Koil in Dharmapuri district suffered heavy losses in online trading and the share market, which led to accumulation of debt and frequent quarrels at home despite financial support from his in-laws.On Tuesday, police said, Santosh killed his wife Saranya, 34, by strangling her with a belt at their home. He later brought his daughter Sathvika, 14, home from school and killed her with a hammer blow to the head. He then rode his two-wheeler to Puravadai, where he rammed a truck and died on the spot.Adhiyamankottai police recovered his body and sent it to the Dharmapuri Government Medical College and Hospital for a postmortem.The murders came to light when police personnel reached his house to inform his family about the fatal accident. They found the bodies of his wife and daughter and sent them to the same GH for postmortem.“Santosh had recently sold 150 sovereigns of gold jewellery belonging to his wife without her knowledge. He had also demanded more money from his in-laws, threatening to end his life,” DSP Sivaraman said.Police have recovered a video message recorded by Santosh shortly before his death. “He admitted to the murders and conveyed his decision to die by suicide. He cited financial distress as the reason for taking the extreme step and listed the names of creditors to whom he owed money,” the DSP added.The Adhiyamankottai police have registered a case.
