PUDUKKOTTAI: A case of unnatural death of a 21-year-old woman, who was six months pregnant, turned out to be a murder following the postmortem, resulting in the arrest of six persons, including her in-laws, on Thursday.
The deceased, P Sandhya of Indira Nagar, had married Pandidurai, who works in a private company in Erode, about a year ago. Sandhya’s husband Pandidurai had left for Erode on September 29, and she was strangled to death on September 30 by her mother-in-law, Banumathi (46), and sister-in-law, Pandimeena (33) and Porkodi (29). The Ganesh Nagar police said after Sandhya’s death, her relatives told the police that she died due to choking while eating food.
Police said the accused allegedly turned up the television volume and strangled Sandhya with a dupatta and smothered her with a pillow. She was then taken to the Pudukkottai GH by her relatives, who claimed that she had suddenly fallen ill. Doctors, however, found that she had died before reaching the hospital. They alerted the police after noticing injuries around her neck.
Police found Sandhya had been murdered at her husband’s house while he was away. The murder was linked to an earlier dispute after Sandhya had passed remarks on her two sister-in-laws.
Other suspects were identified as Kanimozhi (27), Selvi and Selvi’s son Karthik (24). They were arrested on Thursday and remanded in judicial custody on Friday.