Hyderabad: An extra-marital affair between a school teacher named Sujatha, 45, and her supposed lover, Rajesh, 25, an engineering student, is suspected to be the reason behind their suicides that transpired over the past week.
Rachakonda police commissioner, D S Chauhan, told media persons that one year ago Rajesh, who was staying in Chaitanyapuri and is a native of Mulugu district, dialled Sujatha’s phone number by mistake and they began speaking. An innocuous call soon turned into a full-fledged love affair.
Both of them soon got acquainted with each other and started chatting on the phone regularly. Sujatha and Rajesh started meeting and got into a relationship. Slowly Sujatha realized that their relationship was a waste as she was married with three grown-up children, and Rajesh was just 25.
Rajesh reportedly also felt the same that he was in a relationship with a woman double his age and thought it was useless too.
“Assuming there is no solution to their problem, both decided to end their lives. On May 24, Sujatha and Rajesh went to a fertilizer shop and purchased one bottle of pesticide from there. On 25 May, Sujatha sent a message on Whatsapp to Rajesh telling she was ending her life and consumed it. The family shifted her to the hospital and she passed away,” said D S Chauhan.
Rajesh tried to contact Sujatha on her phone and when calls went unanswered he went to the residence of Sujatha at Hayathnagar and enquired about her. Srivani, daughter of Sujatha, got suspicious and informed his brother Jaswanth and other two friends.
“The trio caught hold of Rajesh at Kuntloor Hayathnagar and on checking his mobile phone found he was the person who was chatting with Sujatha and she had sent a message to him before taking poison,” said the Commissioner.
Jaswanth and others warned Rajesh and left the place. “Rajesh went to a pesticide shop and purchased a bottle of pesticide and liquor. Afterwards, he is suspected to have consumed the pesticide and died. His body was found on 29 May,” said the officer.
The police registered a case of murder initially after noticing the body was naked. After a preliminary autopsy report, the police came to know it was a case of consuming poison.
| 
