The police suspect that their adopted daughter eloping with a man they employed deeply hurt them, and hence they chose to end their lives.
The deceased couple - Leeladhar Shetty (68) and Vasundhara L Shetty (59)
Hours after their 17-year-old adopted daughter — their only child — went missing from their house on Tuesday, 12 December, acclaimed Kannada theatre artiste couple Leeladhar Shetty (68) and Vasundhara L Shetty (59), died by suicide during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
The incident came to light on Wednesday when their relatives came to their house in the Majoor village of the Kapu taluk in Karnataka’s Udupi district to check on them as they were not answering their phone calls, the police said.
The cops were immediately called to the spot, and were said to have found a suicide note from the room. However, the note did not mention the reason the couple took the extreme step.
According to the police, the couple adopted their daughter 16 years ago.
Leeladhar was a friendly figure in society and he and his wife were into theatre arts, organising cultural events.
The police suspect that their adopted daughter eloping with a man employed by the couple deeply hurt them, and hence they chose to end their lives.
Police sources also said that the couple had financial challenges. Besides, Vasundhara had developed gangrene in her legs and had been suffering for some time.
All these could have contributed to the couple’s decision to take the extreme step, said the cops.
Soon after the minor girl went missing, a relative of Leeladhar Shetty filed a missing-person complaint at the Kapu Police Station, which registered a case of kidnapping of a minor girl and began conducting inquiries to trace the girl.
“We are probing the kidnap case of the couple’s adopted daughter. She has been not using any mobile phones and we are attempting to trace her through conventional methods. She did not make it to the funeral of the deceased couple,” a senior police officer told South First.
Leeladhar was also a noted social worker who contested the Assembly elections in 1986 as an independent candidate from the Kapu constituency, but was defeated by a small margin.
He established the Kapu Rajataranga drama artist troupe and acted and directed several plays, through which the couple shot to fame in the Udupi and Mangaluru districts.
He also served as the president of the social organisation Kapu Buntara Sangha and was also a close aide of incumbent Udupi MLA Gurume Suresh Shetty.
As he was a noted personality in Kapu, people from the taluk observed a bandh voluntarily by closing down their shops on Wednesday as a mark of respect and honour for the deceased couple.
Their body was taken in a huge procession for the final rites, and hundreds of people took part in it.
May 13, 2024
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