Boy, 9, finds dad hanged in own home

A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy found his own father hanged, an inquest has heard.

Babiyan Periyanayagasmi, who had been battling alcohol and depression, was found at the loft hatch of his home in Wren Street, Salem, on September 7, 2008.

The 39-year-old care assistant, who moved to England from India in 2004, started drinking at a very early age.

Mr Periyanayagasmi’s wife, Gloria Francis, said her husband missed his family and friends in India and struggled to cope with the pressure of his job and looking after the couple’s two children.

She told the Oldham inquest that he would regularly drink so much at home that he couldn’t always make it in to work.

Mrs Francis told the inquest that her husband often expressed suicidal thoughts and had self-harmed in the past. Mr Periyanayagasmi promised his wife he would seek help to stop drinking but never did.

On the day of his death, Mrs Francis went to work while Mr Periyanayagasmi stayed at home with the children.

The couple’s son found his father’s body and ran to find his mother while a neighbour called an ambulance.

Coroner Simon Nelson concluded that Mr Periyanayagasmi had taken his own life while depressed.

He added: “Mr Periyanayagasmi found life in England very difficult because of the language barrier and there were also difficulties in relation to his use or abuse of alcohol. I have no doubt that he intended to take his own life.”