Malappuram: A family four of bid adieu to life at Munduparamba in Malappuram the other day. It is suspected that distress over the incurable genetic disease Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) may have forced the young parents to take their own lives after snuffing out those of two children.

Sabeesh (37), his wife Sheena (38) and their children Harigovind (6) and Sreevardhan (2) were found dead in their house at Maitri Nagar, Munduparamba.

Last month, DND was confirmed in the elder of the two children in the family. Preliminary medical investigations conducted following this had pointed to the possibility of the younger child too developing the disease. As a consequence, the doctors recommended a genetic screening of the mother. But the even before this could be carried out the family took the extreme step.

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DMD is an incurable disease that affects children’s muscles in a debilitating manner, leading to impairments and early death. The police are investigating whether distress over the issue led to the deaths.

The relatives say that the couple, Sabeesh and Sheena, who were working as managers in two financial institutions, did not face any financial problems.

Everything seemed normal, but...
The news of death of the four members of the family came even as Sheena was preparing to shift household articles from Munduparamba in Malappuram after taking over as the bank manager in Kannur on Saturday.

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She had taken leave for shifting the house and had reached Malappuram last Sunday. The relatives say that the school records necessary for shifting the elder son, Harigovind, who was studying in the first standard in the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Malappuram, had also been made ready.

Around 4 p.m., Sabeesh and Sheena had informed their respective homes that they would leave for Kannur on Friday. However, neither of them could be contacted when the relatives tried to call them around 8 in the night. Following this, the relatives informed the Malappuram police of the situation. The police reached the house around midnight and found the four persons dead when they entered the house.

Autopsies over
Postmortem examinations of the four bodies were conducted at the Manjeri Medical College. After the bodies were released around 2:30 p.m., the relatives took them to Taliparamba in Kannur.

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The bodies were first brought to Sheena’s house at Muyyam for the public to pay homage. They were taken to the house of Sabeesh at Kuttikkattoor in Kozhikode at night. The funerals will be at West Hill crematorium at 9 am tomorrow.

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