Coimbatore: Elderly woman killed, jewels stolen

COIMBATORE: A 65 year old woman, who was living alone was murdered and her jewels stolen in Coimbatore on Sunday. The deceased, Gomathi was residing alone in an apartment in Ramanathapuram locality, after her husband Thanagaraj, a retired official from the Registration Department passed away a few years ago. Her daughter Radhika, is a doctor in London while her son is also working abroad.

Police said Radhika arrived from London on Sunday morning to visit her mother. When she reached the apartment, she found the front door closed, but left unlocked. She entered the house and found her mother lying dead, and her jewels including chain, earrings and bangles had all gone missing.

On receiving information, the Ramanathapuram police rushed to the spot and sent the body of the deceased for a post-mortem. Preliminary inquiry by police revealed that unidentified persons may have entered the house, knowing that the elderly woman was alone and strangled her to death, before fleeing away with jewels and cash.

However, the exact value of the stolen items is yet to be ascertained. A case of murder has been registered and multiple teams have been formed to investigate and trace the culprits. The incident coming close on the heels of a similar murder in which an elderly woman living alone was murdered for her jewels in March, this year in Coimbatore has triggered concern.