COIMBATORE: A 28-year-old man from Bihar was arrested on charges of murdering his wife over her alleged extramarital affair and dumping her body in an unused well near Sirumugai in Coimbatore district.
According to Sirumugai police, the accused was identified as B Chottelal Mandal, a daily wage worker. The crime allegedly took place while he was staying at Gopirasipuram, on the Annur-Mettupalayam Road, where he was engaged in renovation work at a spinning mill.
Police said Chottelal suspected that his wife Sangeetha, who was living in Tiruchy, was involved in an extramarital relationship. Chottelal had also been residing in Tiruchy before moving to Sirumugai for work.
On June 11, he travelled to Tiruchy and confronted her over the issue, leading to a heated argument. Police said he subsequently brought her to Sirumugai, where another altercation broke out.
"The accused allegedly strangled his wife to death after she allegedly refused to end the relationship. During the investigation, he told police that he had earlier brought her from Bihar to Tiruchy after similar suspicions. After the murder, he packed the body in a plastic sack and dumped it in an unused well on the mill premises, where renovation work was under way. He later returned to Tiruchy on June 15," a police officer said.
The crime came to light on June 17 when the site supervisor noticed foul smell emanating from the well and alerted the police. "Renovation work was being carried out at the site to convert the premises into a marriage hall. The suspect believed the body would go unnoticed in the abandoned well. However, the supervisor detected the foul smell and informed us.
With the assistance of fire and rescue service personnel, the body was recovered and sent to the government hospital in Mettupalayam for postmortem examination," police said.
Police formed three special teams to trace the accused and apprehended him at Kurukilipalayam near Sirumugai. During interrogation, he confessed to the crime. Police said he was planning to revisit the crime scene to retrieve the shawl used in the murder, which had been left in the well along with the body.
