VILLUPURAM : After a woman burned to death at a village in the Gingee taluk, her husband has been detained under suspicion. The police had initially filed a case of suicide, but later changed it to suspicious death in the face of opposition from the woman’s family.According to the police, Suresh (30), of Melkarani near Melmalayanur, married Gayathri (27) 10 years ago. Both of them were daily wage labourers and had two sons - Sathish (9) and Kumar (7), who were students of a local government school.
Sources said the couple did not get along. Suresh’s spending on alcohol was an issue on which the couple fought frequently. On Sunday, Suresh came home drunk and a fight broke out between the couple. Afterwards, the neighbours heard Gayathri screaming for help and found her aflame. The fire was too high to be put out and the woman died.
The police took the body to the Gingee GH and registered a case of suicide. Suresh reportedly told the police that his wife had, during the quarrel, set herself on fire. The man, who had no burn injuries on him, could not explain why he did not try to stop her. In a statement to polcie, the man simply said ‘he was watching’. The case was then converted to that of suspicious death.Gayathri’s relatives meanwhile alleged that Suresh had killed the woman. There were also questions of jurisdiction - the case being the death of a woman within 14 years of marriage, it should be forwarded to the revenue divisional officer.