TIRUNELVELI: The Tirunelveli city police arrested an 18-year-old after he allegedly murdered his father at their house during the early hours of Wednesday.
The youth allegedly committed the crime after his father scolded him for being irregular to college. The deceased has been identified as Mariyappan (45), who was a mason, while the accused is M Thangapandi of Ashoka Puram in Melakarunkulam.
According to sources, Mariyappan lived with his wife, son Thangapandi, and two daughters. Thangapandi is a second-year student at a government-aided college in Palayamkottai. Mariyappan had often warned Thangapandi for skipping college and returning home late at night.
On Tuesday night, a quarrel broke out again between the two over it. Early on Wednesday, when Mariyappan was asleep, an angered Thangapandi picked up a rock and smashed his father’s head and fled the scene. Sakunthala and her daughters, who woke up to Mariyappan’s cries, saw him lying in a pool of blood, sources said. They then informed the Melapalayam police, who then sent Mariyappan’s body to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital for autopsy.
On Wednesday morning, Thangapandi was arrested near the new bus stand in Tirunelveli, where he was allegedly hiding.