A doctor in Chennai, who died by suicide with his wife and their two teenage sons at their home on Thursday, had suffered financial losses amounting to Rs 5 crore. 

The victims were identified as Dr Balamurugan, a prominent sonologist, his wife Sumathi, a practicing lawyer, and their sons, 17-year-old Dasvanth and 15-year-old Lingesh. According to police, the bodies of Dr Balamurugan and Sumathi were found in one room of their Anna Nagar West residence, while their sons were discovered in another.

The bodies were discovered by the family’s driver when he arrived at their residence on Thursday morning. After receiving no response from the family, he alerted neighbours, who peered through the windows and saw the bodies. The police reached the house and sent the bodies to Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital for post-mortem.

Dr Balamurugan owned several ultrasound diagnostic centres in Chennai. The doctor had suffered heavy financial losses, leading to significant debt. His wife, Sumathi, was an advocate practicing in the city court. Their elder son, Dasvanth, was preparing for his Class XII board exams, while their younger son, Lingesh, was in Class X. According to reports, Dasvanth was also preparing for the NEET medical entrance examination.

“We suspect they killed themselves. They were in debt. We are investigating. No formal complaint received from anyone so far,” a police officer told NDTV.

The police are probing the financial records of Dr Balamurugan’s business to understand whether there were external pressures involved.