MADURAI: A 23-year-old man hacked his mother to death after she refused to give him money for liquor, at Villur near T Kallupatti in the district on Friday.
Sources said that M Chinnammal (47), a resident of Kandiyathevanpatti, had been living with her son Palpandi (23) after the death of her husband Muthusamy, a watchman at a private match company, in February last.
Though Palpandi was an ITI graduate, he was jobless and used to pester Chinnammal, a daily wager, for money for liquor. Recently, the private company where Muthusamy used to work gave her a compensation of `50,000. After spending a few thousand, she had kept the remainder at the house.
On Friday night, Palpandi visited the house in an inebriated state and demanded the compensation money. When Chinnammal refused to part with the money, Palpandi reportedly entered into a heated argument with her.
In a fit of rage, Palpandi picked up a sickle that was lying nearby and allegedly hacked her to death while she was sitting on the verandah, almost severing her head off.
A few neighbours, who went to check on the duo after hearing shouts coming from the house, found Palpandi sitting beside the body with a sickle in hand. They immediately alerted the police, who rushed to the spot and arrested Palpandi. Further investigations were on.