Kasaragod: Police investigating the death by suicide of a school teacher and her husband in Manjeshwar panchayat are trying to identify two women seen assaulting the teacher in CCTV footage.

Manjeshwar police said they have obtained the footage showing the assault.

The deceased were identified as Ajith (30), a house painter and pandal decorator, and his wife Shwetha (27), a private school teacher, residents of Kadambar in Arimala ward. The couple died on October 7, reportedly after consuming poison on Monday evening.

In the footage, Shwetha, dressed in a greenish-yellow saree, is seen conversing with two women -- one seated on a scooter and the other wearing a blue top and salwar.

Arimala ward member Jayanthi Yatish, who saw the video, confirmed that the assault took place near the couple's house. The woman in the blue top is seen walking away with her mobile phone to her ear, then returning to push, slap, and punch Shwetha. 

"I'm surprised that Shwetha did not make any effort to move away or resist when the woman hit her. It was as if she were accepting a punishment," said Jayanthi. The video suggested that she knew the two women.

Jayanthi, however, said she could not identify the two women in the video. "They don’t look like they are from our neighbourhood," she said.

Ajith’s brother-in-law Sathish, who also viewed the footage, said he was unable to identify the assailants. "The faces are not clear," he said.

Manjeshwar police said the video was under examination and that it was premature to link the assault directly to the couple's suicide. However, officers indicated that they have obtained leads about the two women involved.

On Monday evening, neighbours found Shwetha and Ajith unconscious in their house. They were rushed to a hospital in Mangaluru, where they died the next day. Earlier that day, the couple had left their only son at Ajith’s sister’s house in Bandiyod, in the neighbouring Mangalpady panchayat, saying they had to go out briefly.

Though neighbours said the couple had been facing financial difficulties, neither the family nor the police have confirmed it.