TIRUVANNAMALAI: A 35-year-old man reportedly opened fire on his neighbour’s boy at Mulluvadi tribal village after the child’s mother allegedly refused to have an illicit relationship with him.
Sivalingam of Mulluvadi in Jamunamaruthur reportedly fired at his neighbour’s two-and-a-half-year-old child around 5 pm on Monday after his mother Kavitha (26) rejected his sexual advances. The child, Tamilarasu, was admitted at the Government Vellore Medical College and Hospital and later referred to the GH in Chennai for further treatment. Jamunamaruthur police have launched a hunt for Sivalingam.
A preliminary inquiry found that Kavitha’s father Chinnapaiyan had borrowed `30,000 from Sivalingam a year ago. He paid `25,000 and was yet to pay the remaining `5,000 to Sivalingam.
Taking advantage of this, Sivalingam accosted Kavitha and allegedly demanded sexual favours as quid pro quo. However, she did not give in to his demands and resisted him on many occasions.
“Kavitha told Sivalingam that she was a mother of a child and has to take care of her husband, Harikrishnan, who’s speech impaired,” said investigation officer J Gokulakrishnan.
After being repeatedly spurned, he started to threaten her that if her child is a hindrance to the affair, he would kill Tamilarasu.
On Monday, after learning that Harikrishnan was working in his farmland, Sivalingam allegedly went to Kavitha’s house around 4.30 pm and tried to misbehave with her. Kavitha resisted and warned him. Angered over this, he went to his house, took out his country-made gun and opened fire at Kavitha and her son. “The boy sustained injuries on his abdomen. The child was lucky as the injuries are not life threatening as the accused (Sivalingam) opened fire from some distance away,” said Gokulakrishnan.
On hearing the gunshot, Harikrishnan rushed to the house and tried to catch Sivalingam. However, he managed to escape and disappeared into a forest area. “We searched in and around the village to nab him from early morning until late evening on Tuesday, but have not been able to locate him. We will continue the search tomorrow,” said the police officer.
Doctors in the GVMCH declared that the child was out of danger. However, they referred him to the GH in Chennai for further treatment. A case has been filed against Sivalingam following a complaint by Kavitha.