TN woman kills cousin who attempted to rape her, police say arrest unlikely

The incident happened around 8 pm when the woman went to a secluded place a few metres away from her house in Allimedu village to relieve herself. Police said that the deceased S Ajithkumar (24) lived in the same village. He allegedly followed the teen with a liquor bottle, put a knife to her throat and demanded she follow his orders.

"As Ajithkumar started taking his clothes off, the woman begged him to let her go but when he didn't relent, she pushed him away," said an investigating officer. 

"Ajithkumar hit his head on a tree and dropped the knife which the woman picked up and stabbed him in the neck multiple times," he added.

After the incident, the woman approached the Sholavaram police around 9 pm and confessed. Policemen rushed to the spot and retrieved Ajithkumar's body. It was sent to Government Stanley Hospital for post-mortem examination.

DSP (Ponneri) Kalpana Dutt told DT Next that the woman, originally from Arumandhai did not continue education after Class 10 and moved to her maternal aunt's house in Allimedu a year ago after she had a disagreement with her parents. Ajithkumar was this aunt's son.

He used to live in the same village with his wife and two children. The couple got separated a few months ago, but were not divorced.

The police said that Ajithkumar also has theft cases pending against him, but there were no fresh cases against him since 2018. "But Ajithkumar was allegedly a drunkard and always roamed around with a knife. He did not have a proper job," said the police after verifying his background.

The woman, meanwhile, is in trauma. "So far, we do not have any other motive for the murder. But, further investigation is underway and we have also sought legal opinion. If it is clear beyond doubt that it is an act of self-defence, then there will not be any arrests in the case," added the DSP.