TIRUCHY: Police on Saturday arrested a 30-yr-old man for sexually assaulting and murdering his friend’s niece in Thanjavur.

Sharmila (22) of Thachankurichi, who was working in a car manufacturing firm in Chennai, had gone to her maternal uncle Prabhu’s house for Deepavali.

Meanwhile, Prabhu on Friday went to a relative’s house to attend a family function, where he joined a booze party with his friends Karuppusamy (30) and Dheena (33). Suddenly, Sharmila called Prabhu and expressed her wish to attend the function. As Prabhu was in an inebriated condition, he sent Karuppusamy to pick up Sharmila.

As both Karuppusamy and Sharmila didn’t return for a long time, Prabhu tried to contact them over phone, but their mobiles were switched off.

Prabhu after a long search got information about a young woman lying unconscious at a spot in Chennampatti. On information, the Vallam police rushed to the spot and identified the woman as Sharmila. Karuppusamy, who was secured by cops on suspicion, admitted that he sexually assaulted Sharmila and strangled her to death her with a dupatta. Further investigations are on.