TimesView The increased interaction on social media is beginning to dominate our lives. Sadly, it’s leading to a whole new world of misunderstandings and conflict. The case of domestic disharmony, possibly over addiction to Facebook, is an example of what can go horribly wrong when online friends take precedence over families. While the couple’s death is tragic, the bigger tragedy is that they leave behind an orphan. If this is the price we pay for addiction to social media, it’s high time we realised the dangers and took pre-emptive measure. Digital wellness is as important as physical and mental wellness.

BENGALURU: A 23-year-old woman and her 28-year-old husband committed suicide after they fought over the former’s alleged Facebook addiction in their north Bengaluru residence on Monday morning, even as their two-year-old son sat in the hall.Anoop, 28, a deputy manager with a poultry food manufacturing unit in Peenya, and his wife Soumya Anooop, 23, a homemaker, were found hanging from the ceiling in two separate rooms. Bagalagunte police said they are not sure who committed suicide first but suspect one of them found the other to have taken the extreme step and followed suit.The couple from Somawarpet in Kodagu district has been living at Ramaiah Layout near Bagalgunte, off Tumakuru Road, for the past one-and-a-half years.According to police, Anoop was upset over his wife spending long hours on Facebook and warned her several times against doing so.On Sunday night too, the couple had a verbal altercation over the matter. Following this, Anoop called Soumya’s brother Ravichandra in Somawarpet at 11.30pm and asked him to take his sister to her home as he was not interested to live with her. Ravichandra convinced Anoop that he would talk to Soumya and requested him not to exacerbate the matter until he visited Bengaluru and spoke to her.Meanwhile, Soumya called her brother around 7.30am on Monday and discussed her clash with Anoop. She requested him to come to Bengaluru. Ravichandra promised her that he would be in the city at the earliest and left for the city. Ravichandra reached his sister’s residence around 1.30pm, but none opened the door. He immediately informed police. Cops broke open the door only to find the couple’s two-year-old son Hardik sitting in the hall. They found Soumya hanging from the ceiling fan in one room and Anoop in another room. No suicide note was found from the house.Bagalagunte police have registered a case of unnatural death based on the complaint by Ravichandra. The bodies were handed over to family members after postmortem.“We’ve recorded the statements of the couple’s neighbours and house owner Lakshmi Devi who lives in the same building. She said she heard the couple arguing on Sunday night. The clash over Facebook could be the main reason for the incident,” a police officer said.