TIRUNELVELI: Police have arrested a couple in Tirunelveli district for allegedly murdering their 21-year-old daughter and attempting to pass it off as a suicide, officials said.

The victim, identified as Amudha (21), was found hanging at her house in Nochikulam South Street under Senbagaramanallur panchayat near Moolaikaraipatti. Her parents, Sivan Konar (60) and Vairammal (57), initially informed villagers that she had died by suicide.

Following the incident, Moolaikaraipatti police recovered the body and sent it to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital at Palayamkottai for post-mortem examination.

During the investigation led by Nanguneri Deputy Superintendent of Police Dharshika Natarajan, Inspector Sugadevi and Sub-Inspector Shailu, police allegedly found that the death was a case of murder staged as suicide.

Police subsequently arrested Sivan Konar and Vairammal.

According to police sources, the couple told investigators that they had objected to an alleged relationship involving Amudha and a relative by marriage. They claimed they had repeatedly warned her, but the relationship continued.

Police alleged that the couple assaulted Amudha and forced her to consume poison. After she lost consciousness, they allegedly hanged her from a rope and later claimed that she had died by suicide.

Further investigation is under way.