Woman killed for gain, hunt on for house help

The deceased, Kalaivani (47) of Thanikachalam Nagar, a homemaker, was alone at home on the first floor of the two-storey building since her husband Ravi, who runs a chit fund firm in Sowcarpet, was out for work. Since phone calls to Kalaivani went unanswered on Saturday evening, Ravi rushed to the house and found it locked from outside.

He broke open the door with the help of neighbours and found her lying in a pool of blood with her hands and legs tied up. She has injuries on the head and face. She was strangulated with a tape, the police said.

She was rushed to a nearby private hospital, but Kalaivani was declared brought dead.

Since their house help, Rakesh, was missing, Ravi tried to reach him over the phone, but it was switched off. The Madhavaram police sent Kalaivani’s body for post-mortem examination. The CCTV footage retrieved from nearby buildings revealed that Rakesh boarded an autorickshaw in the neighbourhood around 12.15 pm along with a woman and two children, who are suspected to be his family.

The police suspect that Rakesh could have murdered Kalaivani around 11 am and fled the scene.

Investigation revealed that Ravi employed the suspect as a house help just two weeks ago after he worked as a painter in the building. Though the suspect had informed Ravi that his name was Rakesh, the police suspect that his credentials could be wrong since he had not submitted any identity proof with Ravi. Since the suspect has fled with his family, the police suspect that it could have ben a planned crime. A case has been registered by the Madhavaram police.

It may be recalled that en elderly couple was murdered in Avadi in a similar manner in 2019 and the accused, who also joined as a house help along with wife and a child, were secured 10 months later.