CHENNAI: The MGR Nagar police have arrested a couple for the murder of a septuagenarian and stealing 1.5 sovereigns of gold and Rs 20,000 from the victim. The couple had dumped the body in the Adyar River near Saidapet.
The body was recovered on Sunday and sent for postmortem. The arrested couple was identified as S Parthiban (32), a delivery person, and his wife P Sangeetha (28), who were the neighbours of the deceased, C Vijaya.
According to the police, the murder took place on July 17, as Vijaya’s daughter R Loganayaki (51), a construction worker, did not find her at home on returning from work. After searching for her mother, she lodged a police complaint the next day. A missing person case was registered and an inquiry began.
During investigation, when the police tried to question Parthiban, they found his phone was switched off and not at home. However, when the CCTV footage was analysed from Vijaya’s locality, it was found that the suspected couple went to Vijaya’s house on July 17, the day she went missing. During the early hours of July 18, the two were seen taking a gunny bag on their two-wheeler.
“On Saturday, Parthiban’s mobile was traced to Virudhunagar and both of them were arrested. They were brought to Chennai for an inquiry on Sunday,” a police officer said.
After interrogation it was revealed that the suspected couple were residing in one of the portions adjacent to Vijaya for the past five months. Parthiban had borrowed money from Vijaya and her daughter which he did not return. On July 17, when Loganayaki was at work, Parthiban and his wife went to Vijaya’s house to ask for money, but the latter refused as he had not returned any of the borrowed money.
“An argument broke out and Parthiban tried to grab Vijaya’s purse in which she had kept her money. In a fit of rage, Parthiban and Sangeetha beat the woman to death. When she collapsed, they took the body to their house and hid it. Parthiban also went with Loganayaki to search for Vijaya and even accompanied her when she lodged a police complaint. He fled after the police asked him to appear for questioning,” police added.
Further inquiries revealed that after killing Vijaya, they stole her gold jewellery and Rs 20,000 in cash. They dumped the body in Adyar river the next day and escaped to Virudhunagar. The police recovered 1.5 sovereigns of jewellery and `8,000 from them. After an inquiry, they will be remanded in judicial custody.
Police added that a few months back, a woman had named the couple in a complaint filed with the MGR Nagar police alleging they tried to rob her under the pretext of seeing her house for rent.