Half-burnt bodies of couple found in Denkanikottai

The couple was identified as K. Pathiyappa (75) and his wife Kundaramma (70) from Mallikarjunadurgam village near Denkanikottai. Pathiyappa was running a petty shop and Kundaramma was a housewife. 

Neighbours told the police that they assumed that the couple could have gone out of town as the door was locked from outside. On Saturday afternoon, villagers who passed by the house smelt something foul emanating from the house. They alerted the police and the personnel broke open the lock and found two half-burnt, decayed bodies.

Initially they suspected that the couple might have committed suicide. The option was ruled out by the police as there were no traces of fire in the plastic chairs and utensils kept close to the bodies. 

The police said that in case of a suicide by self-immolation the neighbours could have heard them, or the things at home could have also been destroyed when they were in pain. Police added that most parts of the body were not burnt, raising suspicion that someone could have killed them, poured fuel on the bodies and set it on fire before locking the house from outside.

Since the remains of the victims could not be taken to the government hospital for post-mortem, a team of doctors from Denkanikottai GH performed the autopsy in the house. Police have registered the case as death under suspicious circumstances.

It may be recalled that in February this year a 60-year-old woman and her 38-year-old daughter were found murdered in their house with their bodies in a completely burnt condition, leaving no clue on the murder. Police said that the women were murdered nearly three months before traces of their burnt bodies were found. The police are still on the look-out for the accused.