CHENNAI:A 30-year-old woman employee of an IT firm was found dead under mysterious circumstances at her second-floor apartment at Perumbakkam on Monday night. While her husband claimed it was a murder, police suspect it could be a suicide as a note reportedly left behind by the victim indicated a marital discord.
According to police, Aarthi, a native of Usilampatti, who married her relative Raju (35) four years ago, moved into the apartment on Ist Street, Anthony Nagar, after she gave birth to her daughter Guna Rathi. When Raju, a software professional working at a firm in Ramanujam IT Park at Taramani, returned from work around 11.30 pm on Monday, he found their nine-month-old daughter asleep in the bed and Aarthi lying dead in the bathroom, frothing from the mouth, with strangulation marks on the neck.
Shocked, Raju alerted the police before moving the body to the hall. The body was sent to the Government Royapettah Hospital for a postmortem. Preliminary investigations revealed that Aarthi did not report for work on Monday. Though Raju claimed that his wife had been murdered and the gold chain she was wearing was missing, there were no signs of forced entry.
A three-page note in English, purportedly written by the Aarthi, and a mangalsutra pendant packed in a plastic bag were found on the body. The letter, addressed to Lord Shiva, sought divine help to get over the problems in the couple’s marital life and appealed to Raju to return her ‘thali’. She had also mentioned her other expectations from him, besides care and affection.
Aarthi had also sent a text message to one of her friends on Monday evening about the complexities in dealing with men in married life.
“We suspect she had committed suicide. The body was found in the bathroom. The frothing and strangulation marks suggest this,” said an official privy to the investigation. Asked about the missing jewels, the official maintained that they were looking into that aspect as well.