College student suspected in rape, murder of woman arrested

According to the Mallasamudram Police in Namakkal District the woman had gone to ease herself in the open, as her house did not have a toilet, when the brutal incident took place.

Police said Vani (name changed), who has a four-yearold son, had gone to ease herself in the open field around 5.30 pm. Villagers came to the house to check with Vani around 7 pm as they found her son was crying for long. 

The boy told them that his mother had gone to ease herself and was missing for a long time. They searched in places close to the house and finally found her body near a hillock. Locals suspect that she could have been raped and murdered. 

Her body was taken to the Salem Government Hospital for a post-mortem. Villagers said that they suspected the involvement of three youth from nearby villages, who were creating nuisance in the afternoon and evening. 

“Villagers had spotted the trio around 4.30 pm close to the place where the woman’s body was found,” a police officer said. During the early hours on Monday, the police arrested one of them, who was identified as C Velu (20) of Konangipalayam. 

On Monday afternoon, more than 200 persons resorted to a road blockade near the Kalipatti Murugan Temple on Salem-Tiruchengode Road. They demanded facilities such as toilets, streetlights and bus connectivity to ensure such incidents did not take place. 

Police sources said that Velu was a student of Thiruvalluvar Government Arts College in Rasipuram. While the police have quoted Velu as saying that he alone committed the crime the police are also on the lookout for two others, an earthmover operator and a mason.