ERODE: A man allegedly murdered his daughter-in-law, a widow, and tried to cremate her body as he suspected that she was trying to marry another person.
Ever since her husband Subramanian passed away three years back, Selvi (25), was staying at her father in law Ramasamy’s farmhouse at Namakkalpalayam, Ottaparai panchayat near Chennimalai, with her daughter Monika (9).
Recently, Ramasamy sold some of his land and offered the proceeds from the sale, Rs 4 lakh, to Selvi.
However, noticing some ‘change in her attitude’, he started suspecting that Selvi was trying to marry another person using his money. He then hatched a plan to kill his daughter-in-law. On Monday morning, while she doing the dishes in the house, located in a secluded area, Ramasamy pounced on her from behind and hacked her to death using an aruval. The aged Ramasamy then tried in vain to drag the body to a nearby haystack to cremate it.
He subsequently severed her head and limbs, dragged the body to the haystack and tried to cremate it. Meanwhile, acting on a tip-off, Perundurai DSP Gunasekaran and Chennimalai police inspector Sivakumar rushed to the spot, seized the half-burnt body and arrested Ramasamy. During interrogation, Ramasamy confessed that he killed her as “she was trying to marry another person.” Local residents said that the victim’s daughter, Monika escaped as she was staying with Selvi’s parents at Karuppannankoilpallam when the incident occurred.
“If she had been in the house at the time of the murder, she could also have faced some problem,” they said.
Police, who later informed Selvi’s parents Karuppasamy and Sakunthala about the incident, said the real motive could be ascertained only after a thorough probe.