MADURAI: Two men aged 19 were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly murdering a 65-year-old man in Karimedu, mistaking him to be the father of a girl one of the suspects had stalked earlier. The deceased person was identified as M Pongudi (65) of Yogananthasamy South Mutt Street.
On Tuesday afternoon, the suspects -- P Muthamilan of Kalavasal and his friend S Arunachalam alias Arun of Kochadai -- trespassed into the victim's house and allegedly hacked him to death. Based on Pongudi's wife P Pandiyammal's (55) complaint, Karimedu police initiated an inquiry. At first, they couldn't identify the suspects as Pongudi had no previous enmity with anyone.
In the course of further investigation, the police found that Arun had come to the house minutes before the murder, searching for a 17-year-old girl's father. The girl was residing on the first floor of the house owned by Pongudi.
"Muthamilan had been stalking the girl for some time, and she had earlier asked her brother for help. The brother met Muthamilan and allegedly told him that he would murder him before Deepavali if he continued to trouble his sister. Irked over this, Muthamilan and Arun went to the house and hacked Pongudi, mistaking him to be the girl's father," sources added. Karimedu police have arrested the duo under sections 302 and 506 (ii) of IPC.