An elderly couple committed suicide in Telangana's Mancherial district on Sunday night by consuming poison, when their children were not at home.

The deceased have been identified as Dharmaraju (80) and Pochamma (70).

Dharmaraju had three sons and three daughters. Except for one son and daughter, all the others were married.

The couple used to live with a son and a daughter who were unmarried and they had been taking care of the couple.

“Dharmaraju had land worth Rs.15 lakh, which he decided to give to his son and daughter who were living with them. Due to this, his married sons and daughters started fighting for that piece of land,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police of Mancherial, Chennaiah Chilukuri.

According to the police, the elderly couple was under depression due to a fight among their children over land.

On Sunday night, their daughter Lakshmi who lived with them went for a wedding, while their son R Lingam was out for labour work, when the incident took place, said the ACP.

“However, one of their sons staying in Mumbai, Ramesh, has alleged that Lakshmi killed their parents for the land. For now, we have booked a case under Section 174 of CrPC (Police to enquire and report on suicide),” said ACP Chennaiah.

Meanwhile, the investigation is still going on and bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

(With IANS inputs)