Former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa married Mythradevi, the daughter of the rice mill owner, in 1967. The couple has two sons, Raghavendra, B. Y. Vijayendra and three daughters, Arunadevi, Padmavati and Umadevi.

His wife died in 2004 after falling into a sump while drawing water. 

On Friday, the 78-year-old’s granddaughter Dr Soundarya V Y allegedly ended her life by hanging herself from the ceiling fan at her apartment in Bengaluru on Friday morning, police said. 

The reason for the suicide is not known currently, police said. Soundarya, 30, was working in a private hospital. 

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Soundarya was the daughter of the BJP leader’s second daughter Padmavathi and was married to Dr Neeraj S, who works in the same hospital, in 2018, police said.

On Friday morning, Neeraj left for the duty at around 8 AM and it is suspected that she ended her life two hours later.

The matter came to light when the maid came to the house and knocked on the door repeatedly but in vain.

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She informed Dr Neeraj, who too called her on phone but there was no response, the police said, adding, the door was then opened by force.

The body was later shifted to the Bowring Hospital where the post-mortem was performed.

Learning about the incident, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, some ministers and senior BJP functionaries rushed to Yediyurappa’s house to console the bereaved family members, BJP sources said.