Elderly couple living in farmhouse along ECR in Chennai murdered by gang
CHENNAI: In a suspected murder for gain, an elderly couple aged 92 and 82, living alone in a farmhouse along the East Coast Road (ECR) in Mamallapuram, were brutally killed by unidentified men on Thursday night. Their bodies were found on Friday morning.
The deceased were identified as Sagadevan, 92, who retired from railways 30 years ago, and his wife Janaki, 82. They were working as caretakers and stayed in a small hut inside the farmhouse owned by another person at North Nemili near Mamallapuram along the ECR. They have two sons and a daughter who is married and settled elsewhere, police said.
On Friday morning, a villager found Janaki in a cashew field with her throat slit. The information was passed on to her son Gopal who resides in Chennai. Gopal reached the spot and found his father lying dead inside the house, police said.
“We found that assailants had used force to enter the house. Sagadevan was found lying on the floor with strangulation marks on his neck. Janaki had injuries on her body and her throat was slit,” a senior police officer said. A five sovereign gold chain worn by Janaki has gone missing, the officer said.
After preliminary investigation, police said the murderers may have entered the house around midnight and attacked the couple. While Sagadevan died instantly due to strangulation, Janaki must have escaped from the house. The accused must have chased her for about 200 metres before slitting her throat and escaping with the gold chain, police said.
“We are not sure how much gold was stolen. Gopal remembers only the gold chain Janaki had. We are working to nab the suspects,” police said. The Mamallapuram police have registered a case and sent the bodies to Chengalpattu GH for postmortem. In May 2022, a Chennai couple, who returned home after staying in the US for 10 months, were murdered and buried at their farmhouse in Nemilichery by their driver.
‘Man strangulated, wife’s throat slit’
While 92-year-old Sagadevan died instantly due to strangulation, 82-year-old Janaki was chased by the accused for 200 metres before they slit her throat and escaped. The killers could have entered the house around midnight, said the police