Two women — A. Shanmugathai, 50, and S. Shanthi, 45 — were hacked to death by unidentified assailants, who hurled petrol bombs on them before attacking them with sharp weapons, at Marugalkurichi, under the Nanguneri police station limits, on Saturday.
The severed head of Shanmugathai was found a few metres away in the village. The police suspect that the murders could be revenge for a double murder reported in March.
Superintendent of Police, Tirunelveli district, N. Manivannan, who inspected the scene of crime, said that special teams had been formed to nab the accused. This is the fifth murder between two rival groups of the same village ever since one Nambirajan eloped with T. Vanmathi, 18, of the locality last year. Vanmathi’s brother, Chellasamy and his accomplices were arrested for beheading Nambirajan in November 2019 in the Tirunelveli city police limits.
In retaliation, two relatives of Vanmathi — Arumugam, who runs a small eatery in the village, and Suresh — were hacked to death in March.
Held for murder
Nambirajan’s parents Arunachalam and Shanmugathai, their sons Ramaiah and Sankar and their relatives, including Esakkipandi, were arrested in connection with the double murder.
While Shanmugathai had come out on bail earlier, a few of the accused came out of jail only three days ago. “We chased them out of the village anticipating trouble,” the SP said.
The gang, which came in search of the male accused, beheaded Shanmugathai as her sons were not present in the house.
Similarly, they also went to the house of Esakkipandi, another accused in the double murder. Since, he was not there, the gang inflicted multiple cut injuries on his mother, Shanthi, 45, leaving her dead on the spot.
The police have recovered some weapons, including petrol bombs.
A minor girl, Selvi, 14, who was in the house, sustained minor injuries in the melee, the police said.
