COIMBATORE: A 23-year-old man has been arrested for strangling a nurse to death with her dupatta and stealing her three-sovereign gold chain in Erode.

The body of Uthra (26), a native of Poongulathupatti in Ramanathapuram district, was found in a decomposed state in a wooded area near the Vijayamangalam toll plaza on October 18. She was living with her husband, Ranjith Kumar (27), a construction worker, at Pallagoundenpalayam in Tirupur and was employed as a nurse at a private hospital.

According to the police, Ranjith Kumar usually dropped his wife at the hospital in the morning and picked her up in the evening. On October 14, he dropped her at work as usual but was later informed by hospital staff that she had already left for home. When she failed to return, he lodged a missing-person complaint with the Uthukuli police in Tirupur.

During the investigation, the police suspected Saravanan (23), a staff member at the same hospital and a native of Andipalayam in Tirupur. During questioning, he confessed to the murder. Police said Saravanan took Uthra on his two-wheeler to a secluded area near Vijayamangalam on October 14 and strangled her with her dupatta before fleeing with her three-sovereign gold chain.

The police recovered the stolen jewellery and arrested Saravanan on Tuesday. He was produced before the Bhavani Judicial Magistrate Court and remanded in judicial custody.