THOOTHUKUDI: Eight years after a 48-year-old female cattle farmer was brutally murdered, Kovilpatti East police cracked the case and apprehended two suspects recently. As one of the suspects, a 24-year-old man from Thoothukudi, was a minor during the time of the incident, he has been produced before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), while the other, David Raja (28) of Thomas Nagar near Kovilpatti, was remanded to Palayamkottai Central Prison on Saturday.
Sources said the victim, M Bakiyalakshmi (48), was found dead with multiple knife injuries on the banks of Ilupaiyoorani tank near Kovilpatti on September 30, 2018. Based on the call detail record (CDR), the police held inquiries with a few suspects, including David Raja. The autopsy report dismissed rape, and the persons who were detained were released due to lack of evidence, added sources.
With the case pending for a long time, then SP Albert John, nearly six months ago, constituted a special team, headed by SI Shanmugam, under the supervision of Kovilpatti DSP Jeganathan. The police initiated a search for the whereabouts of the suspects, and a few personnel were sent in plainclothes to Thomas Nagar, Ilupaiyoorani, and Koosalipatti.
A senior police officer told TNIE that a few personnel, part of the special team, befriended the 24-year-old suspect, who had allegedly fled the village after the incident and worked as a lorry driver in Chennai. Sources said the suspect had allegedly revealed details regarding the murder. Further, David, who had been working as a security guard at the Kovilpatti GH, confessed to having committed the murder, said the senior official.
According to the statement of the two suspects, on the day of the incident, they were consuming alcohol, while the victim, belonging to a MBC community, was grazing cattle. Over the alleged behaviour of the two, a verbal altercation broke out between the woman and the suspects, who belong to SC community, and the victim allegedly hurled casteist abuses at them. The suspects waited until dusk and murdered her, said their statement to the police. The senior officer said the police have petitioned the JJB to investigate the accused as an adult.