TIRUCHY: A youth who was under de-addiction treatment was arrested for murdering his grandparents by attacking and burning them alive at Mannargudi in Tiruvarur on Thursday.
The police identified the accused as Ayyappan (32), son of P Kaliyaperumal (58) and Devi (50). According to the police, Kaliyaperumal, son of Pichaimuthu (85) and Chandra (75), had deserted his wife Devi and their only son Ayyappan and was living with his parents for several years.
Later, he went abroad, where he has been working for a few years while his wife Devi and son Ayyappan were living separately in Mannargudi.
It is said that Kaliyaperumal was sending money to his parents, Pichaimuthu and Chandra, every month, but nothing to Devi and Ayyappam. Frustrated over this, Ayyappan, an engineering graduate, got addicted to alcohol and ganja. He was admitted to the Tiruvarur Medical College Hospital for de-addiction treatment for the past 20 days and was discharged a couple of days ago.
In such a backdrop, on Wednesday night, Ayyappan went to the house of his grandparents and got into a quarrel, demanding money from them for his expenses. On information, Ayyappan's mother, Devi, rushed to the Pichaimauthu's house, pacified Ayyappan and took him home.
However, Ayyappan, who was in uncontrolled rage, had reportedly consumed alcohol late on Wednesday and went to his grandparents' house again at around 5 am on Thursday while they were fast asleep.
As soon as he entered the house, he took a wooden log and started thrashing the aged couple, who fell unconscious. Soon, he took a can of oil mixed with diesel and poured it over his grandparents and torched them. They both died on the spot. The neighbours who noticed it doused the fire and informed Devi while Ayyappan was still at the crime scene.
Devi rushed to the spot, locked Ayyappan inside the house and passed on the information to the Vaduvoor police. On information, the police rushed to the spot, retrieved the bodies and sent them to Mannargudi GH. The police arrested Ayyappan, and further investigations are on.