TIRUCHY: In a rare case, an inebriated man chopped off his wife's hand, suspecting her fidelity and flung it into a pond near his house in Nagapattinam's Nadusalai in the late hours of Tuesday.

R Madhanraj (32) and his wife Ilakkiya (30), who runs a pharmacy, resided near the house of his mother Parvathi (52). Madhanraj has been doing odd jobs, but was a habitual drug addict.

The couple frequently argued due to his suspicions, and it escalated on Tuesday. He charged at her with a machete, and Ilakkiya ran to Parvathi's house for rescue.

He chased her, chopped a part of her hand and flung it into a lake. Hearing Ilakkiya's cries, Parvathi and her neighbours rushed her to Nagapattinam Medical College Hospital. Madhanraj was arrested and the search for the hand is under way.