Chennai, March 19: Tamizhselvi could not bear to see her sightless sons struggle every day. To end their darkness, she ended her life.

The 37-year-old mother hanged herself at home in Kodungaiyur, a suburb north of Chennai, last night when the family was away, police sources said.

Tamizhselvi?s sons, Kumaran, 17, and Mohan, 15, study in a school for the visually challenged in Adyar.

Both were born blind. The mother could not bear to see them suffer. They would frequently stumble and fall while returning from school. Seeing them struggle, Tamizhselvi would cry for days on end.

To make matters worse, a hunt for eye donors by Tamizhselvi and her husband Shankar, a construction supervisor, proved futile.

So, she decided to donate her own eyes. One each to her sons so that they could at least have partial vision. Tamizhselvi had recently signed a declaration at Shankar Netralaya, the police said.

But last night, in a bizarre turn of events, Tamizhselvi committed suicide. Shankar, the first to return home from work, was shocked to find her dead.

Police officials rushed to their home where Shankar told them that she had willed to donate her eyes to her sons.

The children are shell-shocked at their mother?s sacrifice. She had told them of donating her eyes, but they had never imagined she would end her life for their sake.

Her body has been sent to Stanley Medical College for post-mortem. As her retina would have to be removed within 24 hours, the eye bank at Shankar Netralaya was immediately informed.

?Her retina is being removed,? a police source confirmed. There does not seem to be any other reason for Tamizhselvi?s suicide except that of ?giving light? to her sons, the source added.

Shankar said if Tamizhselvi?s eyes are unsuited to her sons, they would be donated to someone else.