Star-crossed couple in double suicide

CHALONG: Police yesterday found the bodies of a young couple who apparently committed suicide when life became too difficult. Alerted by neighbors who called them to investigate a bad smell coming from the couple’s rented room behind Wat Sawangarom, police found the corpses of Kowit Singkasem, 22, and his four-months-pregnant wife Petcharat Sangmanee, 21. Both were hanging from a beam with electric cord around their necks. A toppled stool was found beneath the bodies. Police believe they killed themselves four or five days ago. Also found with the bodies was a three-page letter from Kowit to his wife in which he expressed his love for her but explained that, because of their poverty and her family’s dislike of him, he could no longer go on living. He added that he hoped that after his death his wife would go back to live with her family. But, police believe, Petcharat returned home to find her husband dead and, rather than go back to her family, decided to follow his example. Relatives told police that she had run away from home to live with Kowit after she became pregnant. Recently married, the couple had been scratching a living from collecting and selling rubbish for recycling.