A 75-year-old homeless woman sleeping on a pavement was found dead in Gudiyatham town near Vellore on Sunday. CCTV footage, recovered by the police, shows a man dropping a huge stone on her head. The police informed that special teams have been formed to nab the accused.
The victim was identified as M. Chinnathai Ammal, a wage labourer. Initial inquiry by police revealed that Ms. Ammal has been living in the Gudiyatham town for many years after her family abandoned her. Since then, she had been doing odd jobs like sweeping small shops on Bazaar Road in the town. After work, she would sleep on the veranda of a wholesale rice shop on Bazaar Road, along with other homeless persons.
At around 3.30 a.m., persons who were sleeping next to her, woke up after hearing a loud noise and saw her bleeding. They immediately alerted the Gudiyatham Town Police and 108 ambulance services, who rushed to the spot. They took her to the Government Taluk Hospital, where the doctors declared her dead.
Police have recovered a CCTV footage in the area, which shows the accused carrying a huge stone and dropping it on the deceased woman. This video has gone viral on social media.
Meanwhile, the Cheyyar police in Tiruvannamalai have arrested nine persons for the possession of knives and other sharp weapons during routine checks on Arcot - Tiruvannamalai High Road in Cheyyar. Initial inquiry revealed that K. Mohandass (25) and his brother K. Manikandan (30) had a disagreement with a local trader K. Sait (45) during the auction of wood a week ago.
They were beaten up by associates of the trader after the brothers lost in the auction. Allegedly, as a reaction to this, they decided to eliminate the trader. Based on a complaint from Mr. Sait, all nine accused were arrested and later lodged at the sub-jail in Cheyyar, police said.
