TIRUNELVELI: The police are yet to make a breakthrough in the murder case of former Tirunelveli mayor Uma Maheswari, her husband and maidservant that rocked the city on Tuesday.
The case has also forced three daughters of the slain maidservant Mariammal to live without any support. The trio had lost heir father 10 years ago.
Mariammal’s daughters, namely Veeralakshmi, Jothilakshmi and Rajeswari, are studying Class XI, X and IX respectively, here in a private school. As the lone breadwinner of her family, Mariammal raised her daughters by working as a housemaid in three houses, including the house of the former mayor.
Mariammal’s neighbours said she hardly earned Rs 8,000 a month and had always run short of it to pay her children’s school fee. “Irrespective of her bad health condition, she sleeplessly worked hard for her children’s future,” a neighbour said. K Sankar, a neighbour of Mariammal said, “Though she was uneducated, she encouraged her daughters to prepare for civil service examination.”
He added that the district administration should take steps to get these children adequate compensation for running their life and pursuing their higher education.
A professor, residing in the same street as Mariammal, said, “We planned to submit a petition to Opposition leader MK Stalin on behalf of the children when he was in the city. However, he returned to Chennai after paying tribute to the former mayor and her husband.”