The man who was in severe debt had taken the step as he did not want to leave his daughter behind to suffer

A 46-year-old man murdered his teenage daughter and committed suicide at their residence on Chinna Thambi Street off Ellis Road, Triplicane, on Sunday evening.

The police said as he was in severe debt, the man had taken the step as he did not want to leave his daughter behind to suffer.

Sources with the Triplicane police identified the deceased man as Subramani, an automobile mechanic with the Metropolitan Transport Corporation. He was living in a rented portion on the first floor with his wife Sujatha (39) and children, Sharmila (16) and Sanjay (11).

On Sunday evening, Sujatha and Sanjay had gone to Vanagaram to attend a relative’s reception while Subramani and Sharmila, a class XI student in a private school, stayed at home.

“Sujatha had called her husband’s mobile phone around 4.30 p.m. and Sharmila who spoke to her said she was preparing food for her father. Sujatha called again around 8.30 p.m. but the cellphone was switched off. She grew suspicious and called the house owner Sumathi who resides on the ground floor,” said an investigating officer.

Sumathi went to the first floor and knocked on the main door. As there was no response, she opened a window and looked in to find Subramani hanging by a nylon rope from a hook on the ceiling.

The police control room was alerted and a Triplicane police team reached the spot and entered the house to find Sharmila’s body in the bedroom. The police also found a suicide note written by Subramani, in which he had stated he had killed his daughter in order to prevent her suffering in his absence.

Investigations revealed Subramani had invested in a welding shed but had closed the business as it failed to do well. He was extremely fond of Sharmila, sources said.

The bodies were sent for post-mortem and handed over to the family on Monday. The Triplicane police are investigating further.