The death of a young couple, Sunil Kumar and his wife Reshma has once again put the spotlight on Kerala's police force and the ruling CPI (M).
According to multiple news reports, a suicide note left behind by the couple who reportedly killed themselves by consuming cyanide has been discovered by the police. The couple committed suicide after being questioned by the police in relation to some gold going missing from the shop in which the husband worked.
The note allegedly written by the wife holds CPI(M) councilor Saji Kumar and the police as responsible for them committing suicide.
Saji Kumar, a councilor in the Changanassery Municipality, had filed a complaint with the police claiming some gold had gone missing from his jewellery-making unit. In relation to this, the police questioned 31-year-old Sunil Kumar, who worked in Saji Kumar’s unit.
On Tuesday, the police called both the people named in the complaint at different times. Reshma (27) reportedly accompanied her husband Sunil Kumar to the police station.
On Wednesday, Sunil Kumar allegedly called up his cousin and told him that he was planning on taking his own life. By the time the cousin reached his house, he found the couple lying unconscious. Sunil Kumar and Reshma died on their way to the hospital.
The police said that the note looked like it has been written by Reshma. It allegedly said that Sunil Kumar had worked for Saji for 12 years. And yet, when he filed a complaint that 600 gms of gold had gone missing, Saji had accused him of stealing 100 gms.
In the note, she purportedly accused Saji of selling the gold himself to build his house.
The note also claims that the police had beaten up Sunil and forced him to write a statement saying he would give Rs 8 lakh in lieu of the missing goal.
She also allegedly added that they rented the house they were currently staying in by selling a gold chain, and that they decided to take the step because they could not repay the amount they were accused of stealing.
In his complaint, Saji had claimed that Sunil Kumar and Rajesh, another worker at the unit, were behind the theft.
According to Saji, he filed the complaint based on an anonymous letter he received recently. “Sunil Kumar was supervising the unit that day. I received a letter one day saying that he and Rajesh were taking gold. I investigated it and found that gold was missing. On Wednesday, the police said Sunil Kumar was going to give me back the money. I never complained against Reshma, and I never thought things would end this way. It is unfortunate,” Saji told TNM.
Meanwhile, Manorama also reported that Rajesh’s mother, Vijayamma, said the police asked him to sign the statement saying he would give Rs 8 lakh in exchange for the gold.
“Since we did not have the money, we went to the police station with the documents for our house. There, we learnt of their deaths,” she said.