A 27-year-old woman allegedly poisoned her two children to death and then herself on Monday after learning that she was affected by cancer, police said.
The incident happened at Vadamattam village near Mayiladuthurai in Nagapattinam district.
The woman had left a note purportedly written by her saying she took the extreme step after being diagnosed with cancer a few days ago, the police said.
The woman felt there won't be anyone to look after the children after her death, and so chose to kill them and herself, they said.
She and her children had come to the village from Dubai where her husband worked, they said.
She had come to India with her two children, aged four and two, to participate in a family function, they said.
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This morning, the woman did not come out of her house and her relatives residing nearby broke in only to find the three dead, they said.
On being informed, police arrived at the scene, sent the bodies for a post-mortem and began investigations.