Aftermath of tragedy

RELATIVES of a doctor who stabbed his wife to death before plunging off a bridge with his two-year-old son has today spoken of their difficulty coming to terms with their deaths.

A year ago Dr Jaya Prakash Chiti, 41, jumped off the Orwell Bridge with his son Pranau after discovering e-mails between his wife and a former hospital colleague.

The body of his 36-year-old wife, Anupama, a consultant radiologist at Ipswich Hospital, was found by police with multiple stab wounds at the family's home in Seckford Close, Rushmere St Andrew.

The couple's elder son, Ani, who was 11 at the time, was discovered unharmed and asleep in another room of their home.

Mr Chiti's cousin Dr Ramana Dhannapuneni, who lives in Yorkshire with his wife and daughter, said Ani had now settled after moving to America to live with his uncle.

Although he is aware of what happened on February 1 last year, he does not know the details.

Dr Dhannapunei, who followed his cousin into the medical profession, added: "Ani is a strong child. He does miss them. His life is never going to be the same."

He also passed on a message from Mr Chiti's brother, Surya Prakash Chiti, who he had spoken to in India as the anniversary of their deaths approached.

He said the family members had still not fully recovered from their untimely deaths, particularly Mr Chiti's parents.

Simply coming to terms with the loss of three members of their family was hard, but the circumstances surrounding their deaths was still painful and clouded in mystery, Dr Dhannapuneni, 37, said.

He added: "What he has done is wrong as obviously an affair or separation should not lead to this. There should be some amicable solutions.

"But it's the loss of lives that's really sad. I think of them everyday. I think 'why did this happen, why did it happen?' In some ways we wish they had died in an accident or something like that. It was dying in this way."

He added: "It's here now. My feelings and sadness are the same as what I felt in February last year."

Dr Dhannapuneni described Anupama as a "very caring mother, friendly and outgoing" while Pranau, who he last saw in October 2003, was a "lovely kid and very active".

Of Mr Chiti, his cousin said: "He was kind and a very nice person and very gentle.

"He's quieter and gentler than me. He was not a person who argues with anybody and I have never known him to be violent at all. It was not just that he treated patients but he cared for them too."

An inquest into their deaths heard the triple tragedy was probably sparked after Mr Chiti, who was due to become a senior houseman in the A & E department of Ipswich Hospital, found the e-mails and suspected an affair.

The correspondence was between his wife and Dr William Dunn, a radiologist at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, where Mrs Chiti had worked as a breast cancer specialist.

Dr Dhannapuneni said the family felt shock and disbelief when they found out about the deaths, particularly until the content of the e-mails was revealed.

The blow was harder as it happened to a couple who had been married for more than 15 years and seemed happy to everyone.

The family had constantly thought about why Mr Chiti had taken his young son with him to his death, Dr Dhannapuneni said.

"We do not know but probably he might have thought that Ani was grown up and would be able to live and cope without his parents.

"However, Pranau was two-years-old and would suffer without his mum and dad."

He said the tragedy would be with them forever, no matter how hard they tried to forget.

"It is there in his parents' mind that they brought up their son who worked hard to be a doctor and surgeon and have a good name.

"However people will remember him for his last act rather than his life."