Couple drinks poison, ends life in police vehicle in Chennai

CHENNAI: A couple from Erode district who eloped to Chennai after an alleged extramarital affair committed suicide by drinking poison while being taken back home in a police vehicle on Sunday.
R Jayakumar, 42, who was already married, developed a relationship with G Kavitha Mani, 32, wife of another man from their village Puliampatti in Erode district, while working together in a garment factory.On July 22, they came to Chennai and were staying in a rented house in Nerkundram.
On July 23, family members of the couple lodged a missing complaint at Nambiyur police station. They also printed pamphlets and pasted posters in the locality. According to police, Jayakumar, who had changed his mobile number, shared his Chennai address with one of his friends in Erode who told his relatives. They later informed the police. On Sunday, a police team from Erode came to their house and secured Jayakumar and Kavitha Mani, who had already planned to consume poison if they were caught. While boarding the vehicle, Kavithmani hid two small pesticide bottles in her saree. One policewoman and a policeman were accompanying them in the vehicle. According to police sources, the police team got down from the vehicle for tea after travelling for a few kilometers. Using the opportunity, the couple consumed the pesticide and fainted in the vehicle. They were rushed to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, but were declared brought dead. Police suspect that the couple may have consumed poison out of fear of being separated and humiliated by their family members. They had pleaded with the policemen in the vehicle to spare them and not to take them back to their hometown.
Koyambedu police have registered a suicide case, and a probe is on.