Couple, car driver held in Coimbatore for murdering 43-year-old woman for gold ornaments
COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore rural police on Friday arrested a couple and a car driver for allegedly abducting and murdering a 43-year old woman for her 15.5-sovereign gold ornaments. On April 4, the rural police found the body of a woman at the fourth bend of Thattanji Hill near a Perumal temple under Karmadai police limits. The deceased was identified as M Valarmathi (43), wife of Marimuthu and a resident of Gandhi Maanagar near Peelamedu in city. Postmortem examination report revealed that she was strangulated to death using a nylon rope.
The Karamadai police registered a murder case, and formed three special teams to trace the assailants.
After a week-long investigation, the rural police secured three persons on Thursday, and subsequently arrested them on Friday. “A 43-year-old man and his 24-year-old wife, who were into carpentry work at Rathinapuri, and one 24-year-old car owner-cum driver were arrested on Friday. Jewellery weighing around 15.5 sovereigns were recovered from them,” said a senior police official.
According to the police, the deceased was friends with the three suspects. The trio reportedly approached the deceased with a coral stone and said it would be auspicious. Valarmathi went to Rathinapuri to buy the stone on April 3. The four performed a ritual for the stone. During the ritual, the trio asked Valarmathi to hand over the 15.5-sovereign chain as advance of the gemstone.
When she refused, the three assaulted her and murdered at their house. After that, they carried the body in a car owned by a third accused and left it near Karamadai.“Though the body was difficult to identify, we got clues after circulating the details in media. After confirming the deceased’s identity, the crime was solved easily,” said DSP Mani.
Friends turn killers
According to the police, the deceased was friends with the three suspects, who reportedly approached the deceased with a coral stone and said it would be auspicious