Dharmapuri:
A coolie killed his three minor children and wife and then attempted to commit suicide at a village, about 43 kilometres from here, following a quarrel, police said.
They said the man from P Thathampatti village used to physically abuse his wife every day after consuming alcohol. On February 28, he had a heated argument with her and early yesterday, rushed out of the house and jumped in front of a lorry.
Neighbours rushed to the house and found the children battered to death with a stone and wife struggling for life.
On receipt of information, police rushed to the spot and rushed the man and his wife to hospital. However she was declared dead on arrival.
The man reportedly confessed that he had killed the children and wife with a stone in the heat of the argument and then tried to commit suicide.
The bodies of the woman and children were later handed over to family members after postmortem, police said.