Date:27/04/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/04/27/stories/2005042717410400.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Man poisons family, ends life

Staff Reporter

Debts forced him to take the step

HYDERABAD: Reportedly driven by financial problems, a sweet shop worker poisoned his wife and three children to death before hanging himself at his residence in Shivajinagar, Borabanda.

The decomposed bodies of B. Yellaiah, 40, his wife Mallamma, 35, sons -Satish, 10, and Rajesh, 7, and daughter, Geeta, 4, were found inside when the house owner Santoshamma and neighbours forcibly opened the doors after foul smell emanated from the house. Police suspect that they died on Sunday night, as the family was last seen that day.

No suicide note was found. Food leftovers in the plates suggested that Yellaiah administered poison to them by mixing it with rice. The Balanagar ACP, M. Satyanarayana Reddy, said inquiries with locals revealed that Yellaiah was neck deep in debts. According to the landlord, he had not paid rent for two months.

A native of Mahadevpur village in Karimnagar district, Yellaiah was a chef in a sweet shop. Recently, he sold a plot measuring 50 yards to clear debts and shifted into this house.