Raj youth killed Kerala elderly couple in Avadi; arrested

CHENNAI: She did not hide her ill feelings about the 'regular client' to her husband and had asked him to be watchful. Her prophecy became a tragic reality as the regular client murdered the elderly couple by slashing their necks at their house in Mittanamalli near Avadi on Sunday night.

A day after the brutal murder of Ayurveda practitioner, Sivan Nair (72) and his retired teacher wife, Prasanna Kumari (62), Muthapudupet police arrested a Rajasthan youth, Magesh Tara Ram (20) of Jodhpur for the killings.

When family members were informed of the tragic end of the elderly couple, Magesh was the first on their minds as a suspect as Prasanna Kumari had shared about Magesh's demeanour to her son and some family friends too. That his mobile phone was allegedly secured from the scene of the crime and his being caught in CCTV footage while making his escape made the case against him strong.

While the family member contends that the Rajasthani youth used not to pay the consultation fee and also demanded spare money from Sivan Nair often which irked the wife, the accused had told the police that he felt humiliated by the way he was treated.

Magesh was secured early in the day and was detained at Muthapudupet police station where he was questioned for over eight hours.

"He claims that Prasanna Kumari had shouted at him a few times in front of other patients and also asked him not to enter the house abruptly which made him feel humiliated," a senior police officer privy to the investigations told DT Next.

There was an apparent showdown a couple of weeks ago too and on Sunday the mutual ill feelings between the youngster and the elderly couple escalated into a point of no return.

After an argument, Magesh first slashed the woman's neck and then slashed Sivan who came to the rescue of his wife, said a police officer.

Police sources said he fled the scene – the house is situated on a dead-end street that has only three houses – on a bike taxi after the murder.

The accused, Magesh started treatment with Sivan Nair for gastric troubles back in 2019 when he used to work in a hardware store in Mittanamalli.

For the last few months, he had shifted to KK Nagar in Chennai, but still visited Mittanamalli for his treatment, police investigatios revealed.

"A patient who came for consultation found Sivan Nair lying on his own blood and alerted the police," said P Sreekumar, a family friend.

Sreekumar, who lives in the same neighbourhood too is an office-bearer of the local Malayali association of which the deceased Sivan Nair was an active member.

The elderly couple, recalled Sreekumar, were affable and led a quiet life.

Though natives of Kerala – Sivan Nair is from Pala while Prasanna Kumari is from Erumeli – the couple has been living in Mittanamalli for the last three decades.

The neighbourhood is mostly occupied by retired central government employees, several of them from Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi, according to the locals.

Sivan Nair too was an ex-Army man. The couple's son, Hari Om, is also an Ayurveda practitioner and an assistant professor at an institute near Poonamalee. The daughter, Sri Ganga lives in Australia.

Hari Om was attending to patients when he received a call about the situation at home. On Monday, friends of the deceased couple from across the city and from Kerala came to the house to condole the bereaved family members.

They were welcomed by a carpet of blood stains on the verandah where Sivan Nair bled to death.