TIRUNELVELI: In a horrific incident, a 40-year-old woman allegedly murdered a three-year-old boy from the house next door and hid his body in her washing machine, wrapped in a sack. Thangammal allegedly murdered the boy over the enmity she had with the boy's father.
The incident took place in Athukurichi village of Radhapuram taluk in Tirunelveli district on Monday.
The Radhapuram police identified the boy as Sanjay, son of the construction worker Vignesh. “Sanjay was playing near his house in the morning. But he was found missing when his mother Ramya was searching for him to take him to an Anganwadi," said sources.
Vignesh filed a complaint with the Radhapuram police and police personnel launched a search for the boy in the houses of his street based on the complaint.
The police personnel found Sanjay's body wrapped in a sack and hidden behind a washing machine in neighbour Thangammal's house. Police recovered his body and sent it to the Kanniyakumari Medical College Hospital for the postmortem.
Higher officials including Superintendent of Police N Silambarasan and Deputy Superintendent of Police R Yogesh Kumar rushed to the spot and conducted an inquiry with the villagers. Meanwhile, Police arrested Thangammal and started questioning her, said sources.
Sources said that Vignesh and Thangammal had a previous enmity. Police suspect that Thangammal may have killed the boy over this enmity. They are inquiring if anyone else is involved in this murder. As Thangammal had lost her son recently in an accident, the police are also inquiring about her mental stability, sources added.