TIRUNELVELI: Elopement and marriage of two lovers set into motion a bloody tale of revenge, resulting in the beheading of two women on Saturday morning. Police said that the 12 assailants hurled crude bombs at the women’s houses in Marukalkurichi near Nanguneri, injuring a 10-year-old girl, before embarking on a murder spree.
The deceased have been identified as Shanmugathai, wife of Arunachalam, and her neighbour and relative, Santhi, wife of Subbaiah. Sources said that beheading of Shanmugathai and Shanti is part of a long chain of retaliatory murders that began after Arunachalam’s son Nambirajan eloped with Vanmathi, daughter of Thangapandi.
“Following that Vanmathi’s brothers murdered Nambirajan on November 25. Later, Nambirajan’s brothers murdered Vanmathi’s relatives - Arumugam (50) and Suresh (25) in March, . The incident happened when the two were inside a hotel in Nanguneri,” they said.