Woman, daughter killed by kin in property tussle

Police said that Thandapani, brother-in-law of the deceased Dhanalakshmi (53), killed the mother-daughter duo after they obtained a favourable verdict from the court in a property dispute. Police said Dhanalakshmi and her husband Marimuthu got estranged. As Marimuthu came to live with his brother Thandapani, his family members got all the properties of Marimuthu transferred in their name. Dhanalakshmi objected to it and approached the court for a share of the property to her and her daughter Tamilselvi (23). 

Amid the ongoing tussle, the court had ruled in favour of Dhanalakshmi and directed Thandapani to give a share to them. The court’s verdict irked Thandapani. Meanwhile, on Sunday morning, on seeing Dhanalakshmi and Tamilselvi, Thandapani started abusing the mother and daughter verbally. Unable to bear that Dhanalakshmi said that she would come with a copy of the court order and claim her share soon. On hearing these words, Thandapani fetched a sickle and hacked the women mercilessly. They died on the spot. When the neighbours tried to catch Thandapani, he threatened them and absconded. 

Palani police sent the bodies of the duo for post-mortem. A murder case was registered and a hunt is on for Thandapani.