CHENNAI: A missing woman’s body was exhumed from a farm in Tiruvallur on Saturday. Police suspected that she was murdered by her neighbour and his friends during an attempt to sexually assault her. The deceased, Priyanka (35), hailed from Andhra Pradesh.
“Her husband died of illness six years ago. Later, she moved to Vaniyamalli village at Gummidipoondi along with her 12-year-old son and her friend Dominic. She and Dominic were running a kennel and had nine dogs,” said an investigating officer.
On August 18, Priyanka’s brother filed a missing complaint online after Dominic informed him that she was missing.
Acting on the complaint, a special team was formed to trace Priyanka. It was found that Priyanka was murdered by four men on August 13 evening. They allegedly pushed her into a swimming pool and killed her. Later, they buried the body in a farm near her house.
The officials suspected the suspects might have tried to sexually assault her and this could have led to the murder. However, they are awaiting the postmortem results to get more clues.
The prime suspect, Anand (35), a neighbour of Priyanka, had invited her to his house on August 13. His friends Merlin (19) and Sanoj Nair (32) were also present at the house.
“Soon after Priyanka was murdered, Merlin brought Priyanka’s son from her house to Anand’s and started looking after him. On August 18, after Dominic informed Priyanka’s brother about her missing, Merlin dropped off the boy at Priyanka’s ancestral village in AP,” said a police officer.
Dominic is also under the police lens as he has also been absconding. On August 20, Pathirvedu police arrested Merlin and exhumed Priyanka’s body. Police have launched a hunt for Anand, Sanoj and Dominic.