TIRUPPUR: A 22-year-old youth was arrested for allegedly hacking his wife and mother-in-law to death on Tuesday, following a dispute over their relationship, at Pachapalayam near Palladam in Tiruppur. The accused, M Akshayan of Dindigul, is an MCA student at a private college on Walayar Road in Coimbatore.
The deceased were identified as Poovarasi (21) and her mother Dhanalakshmi (50). Poovarasi, who had completed her graduation at the Government Arts College for Women in Tiruppur, had been working at an electric bike showroom in the locality for the past six months.
According to police sources, Poovarasi was in a relationship with Akshayan for the past few years and had got married recently.
“They befriended each other via Instagram five years ago, and soon entered into a relationship. They got married three months ago without their parents’ knowledge. Poovarasi continued to live at her parents’ house, while Akshayan stayed and studied at the college,” sources said.
Superintendent of Police Shristi Singh, who visited the crime scene, said Akshayan claimed in his confession that he was married to Poovarasi, but there is no evidence to that effect.
It is alleged that Poovarasi had been avoiding Akshayan for the past few days. On Tuesday morning, Akshayan went to Poovarasi’s house in Pachapalayam. After her father, Palanisamy, left for work, Akshayan went inside the house and asked Poovarasi to come with him, but she refused. Dhanalakshmi also opposed to send Poovarasi with him. Enraged over this, Akshayan took a sickle and attacked both of them, sources said, adding that there was no caste angle to the crime.
Hearing the screams, neighbours rushed to the house, broke open the door and detained Akshayan. While Dhanalakshmi sustained severe injury to her neck and died on the spot, the neighbours rushed a severely-injured Poovarasi to Palladam government hospital. However, she succumbed on the way.
“Poovarasi’s mobile phone has not yet been unlocked. Inquiry revealed that she had been avoiding Akshayan in recent days. He is claiming that Dhanalakshmi was opposed to their relationship, and Palanisamy knew nothing about this,” the SP told TNIE.