CHENNAI: A 40-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed to death by a mason following a dispute over pending payments for a construction project at Tiruverkadu on Thursday.
The police identified the deceased as R Kalai Bhavani of Sameera Nagar in Kaduvetti. The woman's husband, Rajini, runs a flower business in T Nagar, and the couple have two children.
Sources said the family had recently purchased land in Sameera Nagar and started construction of a house, overseen by a mason, Murugan (36). Upon completion of the project, Murugan claimed that the family owed him Rs 1.5 lakh.
Around 9.30 am on Thursday, after Kalai Bhavani's husband left for work, she was washing clothes on the second floor of the house while her daughter was on the ground floor. Murugan allegedly entered the house by jumping over the gate and went upstairs.
An argument reportedly broke out between the two over the pending payment. In a fit of rage, Murugan allegedly stabbed Kalai Bhavani with a knife he had brought with him.
On hearing the commotion, her daughter rushed upstairs and found her mother lying unconscious in a pool of blood. On information, Tiruverkadu police rushed to the spot and sent the body to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for a post-mortem examination. The accused was arrested.