CHENNAI: Adding to the tragedy of the murder of a 20-year-old college girl M Sathya, her father Manikam took his life by consuming poison.
Sathya was pushed in front of an oncoming train by her stalker D Sathish at St. Thomas Mount Railway Station on Thursday afternoon.
Police sources said the victim's father Manikam, who runs a travel company, apparently consumed poison in the house around 3 am Friday where the family was mourning the death of the young girl.
He was taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. Doctors there declared him dead on arrival.
Earlier, it was believed that Manikam had suffered cardiac arrest and died but during investigations, police said they suspect him to have consumed poison.
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In another development, the accused Sathish (31), was arrested near Thoraipakkam late Thursday night by the Mambalam RPF and a special team from the St Thomas Mount police. He was taken to Tambaran RPF station and then to the Mambalam RPF station for an inquiry, the police said.
On Thursday afternoon, Sathish, who was stalking Sathya for more than a year, allegedly pushed her in front of an oncoming train at the St Thomas Mount railway station.
Sathya, a second-year college student, had gotten engaged last month.
Her mother is the head constable at the Adambakkam police station. Her uncle and aunts are also police personnel. She lived with her family at the St. Thomas Mount police quarters.
Sathish, a class VIII dropout, lived opposite to the quarters in the same street. His father is a retired sub-inspector of police.
The police said that Sathya's parents had recently filed two cases at Mambalam and St. Thomas police stations against Sathish.
How the tragic crime unfolded
As per a witness who was present at the station during the incident, Sathya and her friend were waiting for the train on platform number 1, when Sathish started an argument with Sathya. As a train entered the station, Sathya got up from the bench and walked towards the end of the platform. Sathish went behind her. As the train neared them, Sathish allegedly deliberately tripped her leg and pushed her in front of the Chennai Beach-bound train from Tambaram. Sathya fell on the tracks and the train ran over her.
The witness, a 43-year-old woman, said, “I had come to the spot to charge my phone. Both of them were arguing, and all of a sudden, the man tripped her leg and pushed her in front of the train. He then escaped even as people tried to catch hold of him.”
Upon information, the St. Thomas Mount police, Mambalam and Tambaram RPF rushed to the scene few hours later. The body was sent to the government hospital for postmortem.
The Mambalam RPF registered a case and an investigation has begun. Perusing the CCTV footage, Sathish's identity was confirmed by the police.
Further investigations are on.
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