Engineer held for murder of mother, sister

S Balamurugan, residing at Mahalakshmi Apartment, K P Koil Street, Saidapet, was under treatment for depression after his father died of heart attack last year. He murdered his mother Hemalatha (57) and his sister Mahalakshmi (22) following a quarrel at their apartment on Wednesday night. 

The police became suspicious of Balamurugan, who was working at a private firm on Old Mahabalipuram Road, when they rang up his mobile phone to pass on the news about the twin murders. They found his phone switched off and him missing. Later during investigation, officers had found the mobile phones of Hemalatha, Mahalakshmi and Balamurugan, along with a laptop dumped in the overhead water tank of their house. 

With the recovery of the mobile phones, police almost confirmed the involvement of Balamurugan behind the murders and launched a hunt for the youth. Police, however, could not trace his whereabouts. Meanwhile, the Kelambakkam police got a call from a local regarding a youth who had cut his vein and the police team went and picked him up.

Police then rushed Balamurugan to the Government Royapettah Hospital and got his wound stitched. The youth by then had revealed his identity and the Saidapet police was informed. “He tried to commit suicide. We got the wound stitched up and he is out of danger. We have remanded him to judicial custody,” a police officer said. 

Police said the man had no friends and was suffering from depression since his father’s death. His mother was working and sister was studying at a private engineering college. “He had none to share his problems with and was depressed. “His troubled state of mind pushed him to commit the crime,” the officer added.