COIMBATORE: The Saravanampatti police have arrested a 53-year-old businessman and are in search of four others in connection with brutal murder of a woman from Krishnagiri district, after she had allegedly obtained Rs 1.37 lakh pledging fake gold ornaments.
The deceased, identified as Sudha (42) from Samalpatti near Uthangarai in Krishnagiri, had pawned fake jewellery at a shop owned by the accused and received a loan. When the pawn shop owner learned about the fraud, he gathered his friends and confronted her, inflicting violence for around five hours, which finally led to her death.
The arrested M Rajaram resides in GPM Nagar, Rathinapuri, and operates both a sweet stall on Tank Street along Athipalayam Road and a pawn shop on Thudiyalur Road in Saravanampatti.
Police said Sudha first visited Rajaram's pawn shop on December 8, where she pledged a ring claimed to be gold and obtained a loan of Rs 30,000 by introducing herself as Sumathi, the wife of Suresh from Chinna Mettupalayam near Saravanampatti. The following day, she returned to pledge another ring and received Rs 32,000. Again, on December 12, she pawned two bangles and received Rs 75,000. Rajaram later found out that the ornaments were fake, and her identity was also not original. On Wednesday afternoon at 1.30 pm, Sudha visited the pawn shop again to pledge two more rings, hoping to get Rs 90,000. Rajaram, knowing that she had cheated him, caught her with the help of his friend Mahendran from Nallampalayam and a few others.
"They assaulted Sudha repeatedly, demanding that she return the full amount obtained. Later, they took her to a hidden area near the pawn shop, where Rajaram continued to slap her on the neck and thighs, while Mahendran struck her with a PVC pipe. She continued to get beaten by the gang as she tried to reach out to her associates to settle the debt.
Around 5.15 pm, she was taken to a nearby mechanic's shed, where they continued to assault her with a wooden log and reeper sticks for around an hour. Unable to endure the torture, she ultimately fainted and was later found dead at 8 pm," the FIR stated.
Fearing police action, Rajaram surrendered to the Saravanampatti VAO G Pandi on Thursday, who then called the police. Subsequently, police arrested him and retrieved Sudha's body, sending it to the ESI hospital for postmortem examination. Rajaram was arrested on murder charges, while the others involved are absconding.
Sudha's body was returned to her family on Friday. Police are currently investigating the reason for her presence in Coimbatore and the group behind the fraud.