Woman murdered by sister, husband over property dispute in Mangadu

The deceased Deivanai (42) of Mayalambakkam near Mangadu is said to have returned to the town from Dubai and was staying alone in her house, while her husband is still abroad for work.

While Deivanai’s phone remained not reachable on Sunday, neighbours were shocked to find her lying in a pool of blood in her house in the evening.

On information, Mangadu police rushed to the spot and sent her body to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for postmortem.

A case was registered and a hunt was launched for the suspects. After inquiries revealed that there was a property dispute between Deivanai and her younger sister Lakshmi, the latter was picked up.

Investigation revealed that she along with her husband Ramesh reached Deivanai’s house in the wee hours of Sunday and stabbed her to death in sleep. “To avoid suspicion, Lakshmi lodged a complaint on Sunday morning claiming she was attacked by unidentified persons at her house in the wee hours,” said police. However, the complaint itself raised a suspicion about her which eventually led to the arrest.

Lakshmi was remanded in judicial custody and a hunt has been launched for her husband Ramesh. Police said Deivanai’s son who was in the custody of Ramesh-Lakshmi couple had died in a road accident a few years ago. Deivanai, who kept sending money to the couple from abroad, came to know that Ramesh was spending them on liquor and asked them to leave her house. “The couple was angry with Deivanai since she also asked her parents not to give the assets to them and decided to eliminate her,” said police.