Woman, lover held for murdering two children in Madurai district after husband's intervention
MADURAI: It was a heartbroken Ragavanantham who returned home from abroad three years ago. He had lost his two children to accidental poisoning — the third one narrowly escaped the clutches of death — and he needed to lay them to rest.
However, he could not bring himself to believe that the deaths were mere accident as portrayed. He then embarked on a crusade for closure spanning three years that ended with the arrest of his wife and her lover on Thursday night.
On October 9, 2016, 27-year-old R Ranjitha from Saruguvalayapatti in the district landed at the government Melur hospital with her three children, who reportedly had consumed rat poison after mistaking it to be biscuits. Seven-year-old R Bargavi and five-year-old R Yuvaraj soon succumbed. However, another child Bala was put on life support and he survived. It was an open-and-shut case for the police, who concluded the deaths to be accidental.
However, Ragavanantham sensed something amiss. He began digging up and learnt about Ranjitha’s extramarital affair with Kalyanaraman (30) of Aritapatti in the district. Now, he began suspecting his wife’s role in his children’s death. However, his attempt to bring his children’s murderers to book was stonewalled by the police. A determined Ragavanantham moved the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court for justice and after a legal tussle, the judiciary directed the police to reopen the case and conduct a fresh investigation.
Based on the Court’s order, the Keezhavalavu police registered a case and began afresh. Investigations revealed that Ranjitha in cahoots with Kalyanaraman allegedly poisoned the children to remove the hurdles in their union.
After ascertaining their roles, the police arrested Ranjitha and her lover on Thursday night. The duo was produced before a court, which sent them to Madurai Central Prison on Friday.