COIMBATORE: A 23-year-old man, who had been arrested for killing three men near Karamadai in 2013 and who had recently been granted bail, murdered his wife at their home on Kandasamy Mudhaliar Street, Vadavalli on Friday. He tried to cover up the murder by claiming that his wife had fallen in the bathroom.
Police said that in March 2013 the accused, K Sridhar with an accomplice assaulted and killed N Velusamy, a realtor from Karamadai and stole `2,000. Sridhar then tried to break open another store, which was noticed by a watchman, whom he then assaulted. Following this, he murdered a man identified as K Mariappan alias Ramesh (47) who witnessed both incidents.
Another witness to the murders, M Sekar (32), from Dharmapuri, was also killed. The three murders were committed less than a few 100 meters from each other. A few days later, police arrested both Sridhar and his accomplice and remanded them to custody.
In April 2015, Sridhar was granted bail after his father signed as surety. He had been living in Vadavalli with his wife, S Vaishnavi (22), whom he married three years ago.
Police said that early morning Friday, Sridhar asked his wife to get his mother-in-law to give him her moped. As his wife refused, he plunged an iron rod into her stomach causing serious injuries. He then brought her to CMCH, and claimed that she had fallen inside the bathroom. But Vaishnavi died.
Fearing that police would arrest him for the murder of his wife, Sridhar slit his wrists with a knife and fainted inside the CMCH. The Vadavalli police, who got information about the incident on Friday evening, began probing. They soon found clues that Vaishnavi had been killed by Sridhar.
The Vadavalli police registered a murder case while Sridhar remained under treatment in CMCH for injuries he inflicted on himself. Police will arrest him as soon as doctors declare him fit.
District police officials told Express that Sridhar had become immune to killing, and the three murders were committed in Karamadai while he was drunk.