CHENNAI: A 55-year-old woman buried her husband alive in Perumbakkam on Wednesday, allegedly because he wished to attain immortality after death. The issue came to light after their techie daughter kept pestering the woman about her father’s whereabouts, and later informed the police.
The deceased was identified as Nagaraj (59), a resident of Kalaignar Karunanidhi Nagar in Perumbakkam. According to the police, a few years ago, after visiting temples in the State, Nagaraj started calling himself a priest and claimed that he spoke to gods.
“Nagaraj also built a temple in the backyard of their house and gathered people often to deliver prophecies,” said a police officer quoting his daughter. “On November 16 (Tuesday), Nagaraj developed chest pain and informed his wife that he is going to die. He asked Lakshmi to bury him alive with the little life he had so he could attain immortality as promised by gods,” said the police.
To avoid suspicion, Lakshmi had called two labourers to dig a large pit behind her house, claiming it was for a water tank. On November 17, Lakshmi buried Nagaraj in the pit while he was unconscious.
On Friday, their daughter Thamizharasi, who works at an IT firm in Sholinganallur, returned home and was shocked to find her father missing. Lakshmi had evaded answering Thamizharasi’s questions until late night but when pestered, admitted to the truth.
Perumbakkam police registered a case and in the presence of RDO, dug the body out and sent it for postmortem. Police said postmortem results would reveal if Nagaraj was buried alive.