Hours after uploading ‘goodbye’ video on YouTube, Kerala vlogger couple found dead at home

Their son, a trainee at an institute in Kochi, was the one who found his parents’ bodies after he reached their home at Cheruvarakonam village, police said.

Selvaraj and Priya had a YouTube channel called Sellu Family, which had over 19,000 subscribers. They frequently uploaded videos about their daily life, mainly focusing on cooking.

The last video on the channel was uploaded on Friday, just hours before their death. The video is a montage of multiple photographs of the couple, showing them together and smiling at different locations. In the background was the Malayalam song, Vida Parayukayanen Janmam, suggesting a sad farewell.

The son rushed home from Kochi on Saturday after repeated calls to his parents’ phones since Friday evening went unanswered. When he reached the house in Thiruvananthapuram late on Saturday night, he found both his mother and father dead.

Local panchayat member, Sudhamoni, said the couple was known in the area for their YouTube channel.

“Priya had been active on social media, while Selvaraja worked as a mason. However, the couple did not have a very active social life in the village. Both were introverts. They got a house as part of a state government scheme. We are not aware of any issues between them,” Sudhamoni said.

Police sources said, “The woman’s neck had strangulation marks, indicating that she was murdered. We are awaiting the final postmortem report. Priya died 12 hours before Selvaraj – a factor that we are looking into.”