CHENNAI: A month after a college girl was found dead at a lodge in Chepauk, her boyfriend has been arrested for murder. The investigation has revealed shocking details of how the boyfriend made the murder appear like a suicide pact. Police say the deceased, 21-year-old third-year B.Com student, was in a relationship with 23-year-old K Sumer Singh of Sowcarpet for three years. Recently, her father got her engaged to another man.
Upset, Sumer Singh and the girl decided to commit suicide. For this, they checked into a lodge on June 11. They mixed poison in a soft drink, which they planned to share. Police, however, have found now that Sumer was actually tricking the girl. “He made her drink the juice first and when his turn came, he refused,” an official said.
“When the girl started protesting, he strangled her with her dupatta to death. Fearing that he would get caught, he consumed a little of the poisoned soft drink and fell unconscious.” The death came to light on the next day, June 12, after repeated knocks on the door by service staff at the lodge went unanswered. The room door was broken open and the couple was taken to hospital.
Only when the postmortem report came out on July 11, one whole month after the death, did it come to light that the girl had died of strangulation and not poisoning. Sumer has been arrested and remanded in judicial custody. The girl’s death in June was accompanied by reports of a series of suicide attempts at lodges and hotels across the city.
Reason for suspicion
Within a span of two days in June, eight persons tried to commit suicide at various city lodges and hotels. Three of them, including this girl, died. It was only when the postmortem report came out was it confirmed that this girl died of strangulation and not poisoning