CHENNAI: A woman was hacked to death while trying to prevent a gang from abducting her daughter at Neduvayal near Alangudi in Pudukkottai district in the early hours of Sunday.
According to a Maalaimalar report, the deceased has been identified as Kaliammal, wife of Suresh, a farmer and daily wage labourer from the area. The couple has two daughters Swetha (20) and Subadarshini (18) and a son Balamurugan (12).
According to police sources, Suresh had earlier moved to Chengalpattu for work where he developed a relationship with a woman named Vijayalakshmi and later married her as his second wife. Both families were reportedly living in separate houses in the same village.
About two years ago, Vijayalakshmi’s brother Viven (34), a resident of Chengalpattu, had expressed his desire to marry Subadarshini. However, Kaliammal and her daughter refused the proposal.
Police said Viven had been insisting on the marriage despite the refusal, which led to disputes within the family. Due to the ongoing issues, Vijayalakshmi had reportedly separated from Suresh and was living apart.
In the early hours of Sunday around 3 am, Viven allegedly arrived at Kaliammal’s house along with two unidentified persons to abduct Subadarshini. The trio reportedly gagged the girl with a cloth while she was asleep.
When the girl woke up and raised an alarm, Kaliammal rushed to her rescue and attempted to stop the gang. Enraged by the resistance, the accused attacked her with a sickle, inflicting multiple injuries on her head and body. She died on the spot.
The attackers fled the scene immediately after the incident.
On receiving information from neighbours, Vadakadu police rushed to the spot, recovered the body and sent it to the Pudukkottai Government Medical College Hospital for post-mortem examination.
Police have launched a manhunt to trace Viven and the two unidentified accomplices. The brutal murder in the village during the early hours created panic among residents in the area.