Chennai
The deceased were identified as Varalakshmi (31) and Kothandan (35). Kothandan’s wife Bhavani (35) also sustained injuries in the attack. The accused has been identified as Kosalan, an auto driver. Kosalan in his statement to the police said that his son Vinayagamoorthy (35) and Varalakshmi were having several issues between them. In June, Vinayagamoorthy met with a major accident which required a craniotomy (removal of a portion of a skull) and was recovering.
After the accident, Varalakshmi left for her hometown, Bengaluru, after allegedly fighting with her husband. Sometime later the issue was resolved and she returned to Chennai. Meanwhile, Varalakshmi’s brothers Suresh and Kothandan and his wife Bhavani visited Vinayagamoorthy’s house at Sai Balaji Nagar in Pallikaranai, where they had an argument over some issue. The verbal altercation snowballed into a fight and in a fit of rage Suresh reportedly have slapped Kosalan.
Angered by this, Kosalan went on an hacking spree with a machete on the woman’s family members. In the incident, Varalakshmi and Kothandan died on the spot. Bhavani is undergoing treatment, while Suresh escaped from the scene. Pallikaranai police have arrested Kosalan under murder charges and the investigation is on.
School kids run over
A rashly driven car knocked down the mother and two children, who were on their way to school near Tiruvilangadu in Tiruvallur district. While both the kids were killed, their mother Nirmala, who was seriously injured, is battling for life in the Government General Hospital, Chennai.
According to the police, Nirmala (26), wife of Jagan and a resident of Veeraraghavapuram, Tiurttani, was taking her children Vasanth Kumar (11) and Haripriya (9) to the school on Monday morning. When they were walking on the roadside, a Tiruvallur-bound car from Arakkonam lost control and knocked down all the three.
Vasanth Kumar died on the spot in the accident and the police rushed Nirmala and Haripriya to the Government General Hospital, Chennai for emergency treatment. Haripriya died without responding to the treatment.
Police have arrested Mohan, the car driver. Agitated by the death of the two kids, locals, who had gathered at the spot, blocked Arakonam-Tiruvallur Road demanding compensation for the family of the victims. The residents also demanded a speed-breaker on the stretch, where frequent accidents were happening due to over-speeding. Police later assured action in this regard and managed to disperse the crowd. Tiruvilangadu police have registered a case.
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