Kasaragod: The parents of an engineering student who was killed after being hit by a train while heading to a concert by rapper Vedan during the Bekal Beach Festival have been found dead at their home in Chemnad panchayat.

The deceased have been identified as Venugopalan Nair (50) and his wife Smitha (42) of Paramba in Poinachi. They were found dead in the living hall of their house on Friday, March 13. Melparamba police, which began the inquest proceedings, said they suspected the couple died by suicide.

The couple had lost their only child, M Shivanandan (19), an engineering student at a college in Mangaluru, on December 29. Shivanandan and his friend K Ajesh (20) were walking along the railway track to cross over to the Bekal Park beach venue to attend Vedan's concert when the Tirunelveli Junction-Jamnagar Ten Jam Express struck him around 9.30 pm. Ajesh survived with injuries. The railway track was about 500 metres from the concert venue.

Relatives and neighbours said the couple had been deeply traumatised by the death of their only child and had struggled to come to terms with the loss. Family members also said the couple had repeatedly told them that they would not be able to live without their son, though they had tried to console them after the tragedy.

The bodies would be shifted to the Kasaragod General Hospital for autopsy.