Abandoned by son, old couple commits suicide

VISAKHAPATNAM: An old age couple committed suicide by jumping into Pedderu reservoir at Jalampalle village in V Madugula mandal of the district on Friday. However, the incident came into light on Saturday when one of the bodies surfaced.According to reports, K Satyanarayana (65) and his wife K Suryakantham (58) were eking out livelihood doing a small business in Ravipalem and not being looked after by his son.Few weeks ago, Satyanarayana borrowed some amount from locals to develop his business but incurred losses and suffered severe health issues. Following this, the couple moved to son’s house in Jalampalle, for the time being though, and was being treated mercilessly.Recently, Suryakantham suffered stomach pain and advised immediate surgery by the doctors in government hospital, Chodavaram for which she needed to part with Rs 1 lakh. Unable to raise money for the surgery and dejected with their son’s treatment, the couple left for Pedderu reservoir on Friday afternoon on the pretext of returning home and restarting business with the help of their daughter.After spending a couple of hours at the reservoir, the two jumped into it and ended their lives. The same evening, Satyanarayana’s son rushed to the water body and retrieved the foot wear of his parents, when locals informed that they glimpsed the old age couple at the reservoir, but in vain.In the early hours of Saturday, passersby noticed Suryakanthamma’s body floating on water and informed the police, who also fished out Satyanarayana’s body. They are investigating.