Threats from moneylenders led to Wayanad couple’s suicides, allege kin

Kozhikode: The family of Reshma, a Wayanad based woman who committed suicide on Dec 31 months after her husband Jinesh P Sukumaran was found dead in Israel on July 4, has filed a police complaint alleging the role of a ‘blade mafia' in their deaths. They have claimed that the couple had faced threats from moneylenders from whom Jinesh had borrowed money. In a petition lodged with Sulthan Bathery Police, Reshma's father Gireesh and mother Shaila said that Jinesh had borrowed Rs 20 lakh from two brothers from Beenachi after his medical representative business suffered heavy losses following Covid-19 pandemic. He had handed over four blank cheque leaves and signed stamp paper as security. According to the complaint, Jinesh transferred Rs 14.7 lakh to a bank account as directed by the lenders as part of the repayment and had also paid additional amounts towards the principal and interest. However, a Chulliyode native, Sooraj, to whose account the money was deposited on the lenders' instructions, later filed a case claiming Jinesh owed him Rs 20 lakh, using one of the cheques provided to the lenders. Following this, Jinesh's house at Koliyadi near Sulthan Bathery was attached. The family alleged that despite the payments made, the lenders continued to claim that a further Rs 30 lakh was due. They said Reshma took her life due to severe mental distress following the attachment of the house and continued threats from the moneylenders. The complaint further alleged that before Jinesh left India for work abroad, the two brothers had intercepted the couple in their car at Beenachi and manhandled them. Although Reshma had submitted a petition regarding the threats, the police did not register a case, they alleged. They also alleged that a complaint filed by Jinesh on Jan 8, 2025, was ignored. "The police's failure to act on these complaints led to the two suicides," the petition said. Jinesh was found hanging in July last year at Mevaserat Zion near Jerusalem, where he was employed as a caregiver. The elderly woman under his care was also found dead with multiple stab injuries. Reshma, a native of Koleri, reportedly consumed poison at her residence on Dec 29. She later died while undergoing treatment at Kozhikode medical college hospital.