TIRUNELVELI: The Palavoor police have arrested four individuals, including a sorcerer, in connection with the murder of a 28-year-old woman, who was reported missing eight months ago.
The police, along with fire and rescue services personnel, retrieved the skeletal remains and clothes of the victim, S Kayalvizhi (28), during an intensive search at a canal near Cheranmahadevi on Monday.
The suspects have been identified as Sivasami, Sivaneswari — both from Kottaram in Kanniyakumari district; Mayandi Raja from Thoothukudi district; and Kannan from Veeravanallur.
Police said Kayalvizhi had approached the sorcerer, Sivasami, seeking his help to reunite her with her estranged husband. Claiming to perform ‘parikaram’ rituals to unite them, Sivasami had allegedly taken money from her. When the ritual failed, she allegedly started pressuring the suspect.
“On October 5, 2024, Sivasami persuaded Kayalvizhi to meet him at Suchindram in Kanniyakumari, where, with the help of the three others, he strangled her inside a car, snatched her seven-sovereign gold chain, and dumped the body in the Manimuthankulam canal near Ganganaankulam village in Tirunelveli,” said the police.