Hyderabad: A soon-to-be-wed couple in Telangana’s Adilabad district, ended their lives on Friday after being saddened over the delay in their marriage due to the lockdown, the police said.
Pendur Ganesh (22) and Soyam Seethabai (20) committed suicide by consuming pesticides in an agricultural field in Kannapur village in Narnoor mandal, about 300 km from the state capital.
According to police, Ganesh, a farmer by occupation, and a girl of the same village loved each other since a few years. The families had agreed and their engagement was celebrated a couple of months ago. They were supposed to get married last month.
However, both the families decided to postpone the marriage due to the lockdown. The couple was anxiously waiting for their wedding and this news blew a storm of dismay over them.
The extension of the lockdown in Telangana brought further misery to the lovers as this resulted in the elimination of even a vague possibility of their marriage happening in the near future. There was an uncertainty in the date of their bond getting ritualized.
“Both the families say they took the extreme step due to postponement of the wedding. Their bodies were found in a field. We have shifted them to government hospital in Utnoor for autopsy,” said Narnoor Sub-Inspector M. Vijay.
The police official said a case of death under suspicious circumstances was registered and an investigation was launched. For further investigations, the police is conversing with the families and bodies have been sent for postmortem.
The lockdown, which began in Telangana on March 22, has resulted in the postponement of thousands of weddings. The government has banned gatherings for marriages to contain the spread of the coronavirus. For now, the lockdown has extended till May 29th till further orders from the authorities.
Speaking to The Lede, the Telangana Health Minister Etela Rajendra said – “This is an emergency time and we are doing this for public safety. We request the public to cooperate with us.”
The Minister further stated – “If we see in Kerala, only 15 members are allowed for marriage. Also if there is any loss in the family, then only family members are allowed for cremation. Compared to this we would say we are liberal. We appeal to the public to avoid large gatherings and those who are suffering from cough and fever not to attend any marriages. We request people to maintain hygiene and avoid shaking hands. By following these rules, we can control the spread of virus,” he added.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao warned the people that serious action would be taken against those who violated rules passed by the government.
