An elderly couple were found dead in their home at Jadavpur in south Kolkata on Friday morning.
Police said the husband, 62, was found hanging in his room and the wife, 57, was found lying on the floor of their house at Chittaranjan Colony in Jadavpur on Friday morning.
They were taken to Baghajatin State General Hospital, where they were declared dead.
“The findings of a preliminary inquiry suggest that the man, Baijnath Prasad, who was a driver by profession, had smothered wife Jolly Banerjee before committing suicide,” said an officer of Jadavpur police station.
“The couple were married for 32 years. The husband had left a note saying his wife had become irritable and been misbehaving with him since being diagnosed with cancer.”
In the purported note, the man admitted to the crime and said no one else was responsible for the deaths.
“The husband also mentioned in the note that his poor eyesight had left him jobless and he was financially dependent on their relatives,” the officer said.
The police have started a murder case and a case of unnatural death.
The bodies have been sent for post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death.