VILLUPURAM: A 19-year-old first-year nursing student was murdered by slitting her throat by a 23-year-old man who was livid after she refused to continue their relationship. The murder took place just outside her home at Radhapuram village in Vikravandi taluk of Villupuram on Friday early morning.
Cops arrested the accused, identified as V Ganesan, within a few hours by tracking his mobile phone. He has been remanded in judicial custody.
The deceased S Dharani was the only child to her single mother and was in a relationship with Ganesan for four years, Vikravandi police said. As Ganesan turned a drug addict and took to alleged hooliganism, Dharani decided to end the relationship last year, police added. She then left to study nursing at a private college in Chennai and visited home occasionally.
During her month-long visit in February, Dharani declined Ganesan’s multiple offers to meet him, according to police. On Thursday night, when Ganesan called her, Dharani told him that she had returned to Chennai. Ganesan found out from her friends that she had lied to him and was still at home, police added. A furious Ganesan decided to kill her and camped near her house all night. When Dharani stepped out to use the loo at 5.30 am on Friday morning, Ganesan ambushed her and slit her throat with a knife.
‘Spread awareness, take action’
Dharani died on the spot, said police. Her body was sent to Mundiyambakkam Government Hospital for autopsy. Ganesan was arrested from a hideout near Thirukanur within two hours of the incident.
Local activists said the drug and alcohol addiction among unemployed youth has become a menace, raising concerns over women’s safety. They said the attack is the second such incident in a month.
On February 25, three inebriated men attempted to rape a Class 12 student in Vikravandi. “The trend has to be curbed for the safety of women. We demand the district administration to spread awareness and police to take action to control drug abuse among youth,” said R Lalitha, a human rights activist in Villupuram.