In a tragic incident, three siblings, along with their mother, committed suicide by jumping in front of a train after their father passed away in Ankushapur of Ghatkesar mandal in Ranga Reddy district in Telangana on Friday night.
Satyanarayana (55), a divisional engineer with the Housing Board, along with his wife Meera (51), daughters Swati (33), Neelima (28) and son Shivaramakrishna (22) were coming to Hyderabad by car. Satyanarayana, a tuberculosis patient, fell ill when they stopped for dinner at Vivera hotel near Bhongir. The family rushed him to a nearby hospital where he breathed his last.
They were in a state of shock over the death and it appears that the doctors allowed them to take Satyanarayana's body with them. The surveillance cameras reveal that the family crossed the toll gate at Bhongir around 11.50 pm.
They got out of the car near HPCL godown in Aushapur of Ghatkesar, leaving the dead body locked up inside the car. The family then crossed the road and walked up to the railway track running parallel to the highway where they lay down, waiting for the train to come to end their lives.
The incident came to light when a railway gangman noticed a locked Tata Vista car near the tracks on Saturday morning. The dismembered bodies of the four were also found on the railway tracks.
Although Swati and Neelima had completed M.Tech, they continued to live with the parents and were not employed or married. The reason cited was that the mother insisted that the daughters marry only government employees. Shivaramakrishna was an engineering graduate.
Satyanarayana was suspended from service for five years for alleged irregularities, but was reinstated two years ago. The family was not close to anyone and used to keep the relatives away.
Asserting that the family did not have any financial problems, friends and relatives of Satyanarayana said the suicide could have been triggered by the inability of the Satyanarayana to get his daughters married.
What is more heart-wrenching is the fact that Satyanarayana's 80-year-old father P. Prakasham will have to perform the last rites for the his son and family. Satyanarayana's mother Manemma was inconsolable after the tragedy struck.
Prakasham, however, did not have much to say about his son's wife and children as they were not in touch.
