Elderly woman murdered near Tirupattur town

90-year-old woman murdered in her home, sparking investigation by police in Tirupattur town. Jewelry and cash missing.

A 90-year-old woman was murdered in her thatched house at Athiyur village near Tirupattur town on Wednesday.

Police said the deceased has been identified as K. Dhanabakiyam, a mother of six including four daughters. After her husband and farmer S. Kamaraj died a few years ago, Dhanabakiyam has been living alone in the house while her youngest daughter, V. Senthamarai (55) and her family stays opposite to her house. Other children and their families were residing a few streets away from her house in the village.

Every day, Dhanabakiyam used to visit her daughter and her grandson Naveen Kumar in their house and spend her time there until she returned to her hut in the evening. As she never came to her house, daughter Senthamarai went to her mother’s house where she found her mother lying in a pool of blood with injuries on her nose and neck. As she cried over her mother’s death, residents and neighbours rushed to the house.

Residents also alerted Tirupattur Taluk, who were led by Shreya Gupta, SP (Tirupattur). Initial inquiry revealed around 1.5 sovereigns of gold jewellery and some cash were missing from the house. The body was sent to the Government Taluk Hospital in Tirupattur town for postmortem. Sniffer dogs from a police dog squad in Vellore were roped. Fingerprints were also taken from the spot. A case was registered. Special teams have been formed to nab the culprits.