Chennai: Bringing back memories of the Shraddha Walkar murder, a 29-year-old man was killed and chopped into pieces allegedly by a woman claiming to be his wife and three of her accomplices in Tamil Nadu’s Pudukkottai.
The accused, G. Bakkiyalakshmi, a 39-year-old sex worker, allegedly took the mutilated body parts of the victim, M. Jeyanthan, in two batches in plastic bags to bury them at Kovalam, near Chennai, over 400 km away from Pudukkottai.
While Bakkiyalakshmi was arrested, police are searching for three of her accomplices who allegedly were involved in the crime.
The Pazhavanthangal police jumped into action after they received a missing complaint from Jeyanthan’s advocate sister P. Jeyakruba.
In her complaint, Jeyakruba stated that Jeyanthan worked at the Chennai international airport as a ground staff with a private airline. He had left their Nanganallur home in Chennai on 18 March to visit their native Villupuram, she said.
As her brother did not reach Villupuram and his phone was found switched off, a worried Jeyakruba filed the missing complaint on 21 March.
A police officer told ThePrint that the investigators checked Jeyanthan’s phone records and traced his last location to Pudukottai. Subsequently, they narrowed in on Bakkiyalakshmi based on their preliminary findings.
After questioning of the accused, the police found that Jeyanthan and Bakkiyalakshmi had met for the first time at a lodge in Tambaram, a suburb in Chennai outskirts, in May 2020 and had soon allegedly tied the knot without the knowledge of Jeyanthan’s family.
Though the couple is said to have separated in January 2021, Jeyanthan is believed to have gone to Pudukottai to meet Bakkiyalakshmi.
According to the police, Bakkiyalakshmi gave conflicting statements initially but finally confessed about killing Jeyanthan following an argument. Police suspect that the murder took place between 18 and 19 March.
Bakkiyalakshmi allegedly took the help of her friend Shankar and his two friends in the murder and butchering of Jeyanthan’s body, the police said, adding that the chopped body parts were disposed of in two batches.
“The first batch was brought on 20 March in a bus, with the help of her accomplices in the murder. The second batch was taken on 26 March in a cab from Pudukkottai to Kovalam and this time, she took the help of a temple priest to bury the body parts,” said a police officer, who is privy to the investigation.
Revenue officials and the Kovalam police are trying to exhume the body parts which were dumped in isolated locations. Investigation is underway to find the motive behind the murder, the police added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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