CHENNAI: A 65-year-old man, who was assaulted by his nephew, his wife and her extended family after an argument between the families over fetching water from the common sump in Madhuravoyal, died on Saturday night.

The deceased was identified as R Angappan. Four persons were booked on murder charges and arrested by Madhuravoyal police.

Angappan lived with his family at Govindappan Naicker street in Alapakkam. His brother Murugesan’s families too lived in the same compound, police said. The family members would frequently fight over bike parking and other issues, investigations revealed.

On Saturday morning, Angappan’s daughter, Vijayalakshmi, was fetching water when an argument broke out between her and the wife of her cousin, Ravikumar (Murugesan’s son). It escalated when Angappan and his wife, Karpagam joined the argument with Ravikumar’s wife, Vanitha.

Hearing the commotion, Ravikumar reached the scene and assaulted Angappan. Vanitha’s sister, Kavitha, and her husband Vignesh, who had come to their home, joined them and assaulted him. When Angappan fell down, family members moved him to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries late Saturday night.

Madhuravoyal Police registered a case and arrested M Ravikumar (40), his wife R Vanitha (35), her sister V Kavitha (37) and S Vignesh. They were produced before a magistrate and remanded to custody.