CHENNAI: The bodies of a man aged 78 and his daughter aged 37 were found in their house at Thirumullaivoyal apartment on Tuesday. Police have arrested a man who was in a relationship with the woman.
According to police, Samuel Shankar and his daughter Cynthia were living in the apartment after the woman separated from her husband a few years ago. Cynthia was Shankar’s caregiver after her mother’s death.
They initially lived in Vellore and moved to Thirumullaivoyal since Cynthia had to take her father, who suffered from a kidney ailment, to Chennai often for treatment. Cynthia got acquainted with S Samuel Ebenezer (35), a doctor, on social media. Samuel initially took a house on rent in the same building and later moved in with Shankar and Cynthia.
On Wednesday, one of Shankar’s relatives lodged a police complaint that they could not contact the father-daughter duo for the past few months. Police went to the house, broke open the door and found their decomposing bodies. Police sent the bodies to Government Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital for postmortem. Based on the information provided by the relative, the police detained Samuel.
A police officer said, “During inquiry, Samuel said Shankar died when all the three were in the house in September. Following the man’s passing, an argument broke out between Samuel and Cynthia over the former’s decision to go abroad. When Cynthia allegedly tried to attack him, Samuel pushed her away, leading to a fall. When he found that her breath had stopped, he locked the door from outside and fled.”
An inquiry is on and postmortem report alone would reveal when the deaths took place, police said.