India: Jobless since COVID-19 lockdown, couple commits suicide while children sleep in the next room
They used a bedsheet, as a line to hang themselves to death, said cops.
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Jobless since India’s COVID-19 lockdown, a 39-year-old man and his wife committed suicide in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday. The deceased who were identified as Rakesh Kumar and his wife Archana, lived in the state’s Kanpur district.
Local police said that a single bedsheet was used by both of them, as a line to hang themselves to death. The bodies of the deceased have been sent for autopsy.
According to news reports, Kumar was working in a mobile accessories shop before the pandemic hit. He lost his job in April after the shop closed down. Since then, he had been unemployed.
During the investigation, Kumar's mother Devi told cops that the couple had a quarrel over their finances, on Wednesday evening. Following this, Kumar left the house, but returned after a short while. He and his wife then went to their room.
She added: "I was asleep with my two grandchildren on that night. When I didn't hear from Kumar and Archana for hours, I went to their room, and discovered them hanging."
India's coronavirus crisis has pushed millions into forced isolation and unemployment. Health experts warn that anxiety, depression and suicide are on the rise, in the country.
According to Ravi Shrivastava, a senior police official: "Recently, a 28-year-old migrant worker from Jharkhand was also found dead at his residence in Uttar Pradesh's Noida in a suspected case of suicide."
