Neighbour kills 81-yr-old woman for gold chain in Red Hills

CHENNAI: Hours after an 81-year-old who was alone at home was murdered at her house in Red Hills, the police arrested her neighbour who had escaped with her one-sovereign chain.

The victim, Kaanikai Mary (81), was living at Moovendar Street in Padianallur. A widow, she was dependent on old-age pension to meet her daily expenses. On Saturday evening, her neighbours checked on her, as she did not venture out of her house for a long time.

A neighbour, Muthulakshmi, who used to visit the woman every day went looking for her and found her lying unconscious with bleeding injuries. Neighbours alerted the Red Hills police, who reached the scene and found that the woman was murdered with a grinding stone. Her gold chain was missing. The woman’s body was moved to the Government Stanley hospital for autopsy.

Preliminary investigations pointed the needle of suspicion towards Venkatesh (39), a neighbour who was missing since Saturday. Police found that Venkatesh also quarrelled with the woman often demanding money to buy liquor. Last week, Venkatesh demanded that the octogenarian give her gold chain when she told him that she had no money on her, which led to an argument between them.

A police team traced Venkatesh at a hideout within hours and arrested him. Venkatesh, who was unemployed, was seen attacking the woman demanding money on several occasions, police said. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded in custody.