Elderly man beaten to death near Chennai

CHENNAI: A 55-year-old man, who intervened in a squabble between his son-in-law and another relative was beaten to death by the opposite camp, in Minjur near Chennai on Monday.

Police have arrested three persons in connection with the murder. The deceased, Jeevanandam, was a farmer and a resident of Kattur village near Minjur.

Three years ago, he got his daughter married to a local, Yuvaraj, which strained his relationship with a relative, Kannan, who wished to get married to Divya.

Jeevanandam was against Kannan getting married to his daughter. Whenever Yuvaraj came to Kattur with his wife, he used to exchange stares with Kannan due to the strained relationship, police sources said.

Recently, when Yuvaraj did the same, Kannan flagged his bike and questioned him why he was trying to pick up a quarrel with him which led to an argument between them.

Jeevanandam rushed to the scene on hearing about the verbal duel and Kannan’s elder brother and relatives too reached. Both the camps exchanged words and within minutes, it escalated into a brawl. In the melee, Kannan’s relatives assaulted Jeevanandam with wooden logs.

The elder man suffered grievous injuries and was rushed to the Ponneri government hospital, where he succumbed to the injuries on Tuesday.

Kattur police secured the body on information and sent it for autopsy. Later in the day, police arrested Kannan’s relatives, Muthu (29), Nithyanandam (36) and Rajesh Kumar (30) in connection with the murder. Further investigation is on.