A series of murders has prompted a weekly newspaper to launch a campaign highlighting “red flags” to potential victims of domestic abuse.

The Northamptonshire Telegraph has launched the awareness bid and urged those currently facing abuse not to “suffer in silence”.

The campaign’s launch comes after the Telegraph covered three domestic homicides in Kettering in just under 18 months.

Most recently, Saju Chelavalel earlier this month admitted the murder of his wife Anju Asok and their children Jeeva and Janvi Saju in December.

Telegraph senior journalist Sam Wildman told HTFP: “The killing of Anju, Jeeva and Janvi was horrific and the worst crime I have covered in my eight years of reporting in Kettering.

“Domestic murders are something you never want to have to cover as everyone should feel safe in their own home.

“It’s certainly something you should not have to cover three times in 18 months in just one town.

“Every week we are alarmed to see the number of defendants – predominantly men – on court lists charged with domestic assaults.

“They are not always on this scale yet they always have a victim who has suffered.

“But we know that these are just those who are being prosecuted and there are so many victims out there who are suffering in silence.

“We thought it was important to highlight not only the help that is out there for them but the role everyone can play in being vigilant about potential red flags.

“If one person who is currently suffering at the hands of a partner reads our story and feels like they can ask for help, or if one person notices something that’s amiss with a friend and speaks to them about it, then hopefully we’ve made a difference which is what a newspaper should do.”