Couple hacked to death for protesting against daughter’s cracker harassment

Police said Ramasamy, 57, a daily wager from Adi Dravidar Colony near Kodumudi in Erode and his wife Arukkani, 56 were found hacked to death in their house on Saturday in the early morning hours.

Inquiries by police revealed that the murder was the fallout of a quarrel during the previous night.

Police said that the drunken men had teased and flung a cracker on the deceased couple’s daughter and her husband Perumal who riding a two-wheeler to their house to celebrate Deepavali.

When a quarrel broke out between them, Ramasamy and his wife arrived at the spot and chided the men for their unruly behaviour. They also exchanged a few blows before other local residents intervened and settled down the issue. However, around 1.30 am, a group of men arrived at the house of Ramasamy and hacked him and his wife to death with a sickle. On hearing their loud cries, the neighbours rushed out and found the couple, who were alone then, lying dead in a pool of blood.

Kodumudi police sent the body of the deceased for post-mortem examination at the Government Hospital and a case has been registered.

The cops have so far arrested eight people, including a father-son duo, in connection with the murder.

This apart, two more persons were killed in separate incidents following drunken brawls in Coimbatore and Salem districts.