DINDIGUL: Enraged by the refusal of his wife to give money to buy liquor on Deepavali day, a 44-year-old jobless man went on a stabbing spree in Natham in the small hours of Wednesday, killing his 75-year-old mother and 80-year-old neighbour, and injuring his minor daughter and two cattle.
According to police, the macabre incident happened at Kosukuruchi village near Natham in Dindigul district, when the suspect, V Iswaran, was inside his house along with wife Muthulakshmi (38) and daughter Nathiya (13).
According to sources, Iswaran was in an agitated state over not being given money by his wife to buy booze to celebrate Deepavali on Sunday. He was quarrelling with his wife since then and things took a turn for the worse on Wednesday. Around 3.30 am, Iswaran allegedly slashed Nathiya’s hand with a sickle when his wife had stepped out to relieve herself. Nathiya managed to run out of the house with bleeding injuries.
Iswaran then vented his anger on his mother Chellaiye (75), who was sleeping in front of the house, by allegedly hacking her to death on the spot.
He then ran onto the street and allegedly hacked two cattle roaming on the road before hacking to death Kuttaiyan alias Periyandi (80), a neighbour who was sleeping in his hut. Locals who rushed out of their houses hearing the commotion caught Iswaran and thrashed him.
Upon information, personnel from the Natham police station rushed to spot and arrested Iswaran. The bodies of Chellaiye and Kuttaiyan were sent to the Dindigul Government Hospital for postmortem. Meanwhile, Nathiya was rushed to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai for treatment.
Iswaran lost job in Kovai factory due to alcoholism
Police said Iswaran worked at a factory in Coimbatore before he lost his job allegedly because of alcoholism.
He was staying in the house without job for the last one year and often fought with his family members over money for liquor. Natham police arrested him for murder and a local court remanded him in prison.