St Thomas Mount murder brings back memories of a similar incident

CHENNAI: A second-year student in Chennai was murdered after a stalker pushed her under a moving train at St. Thomas Mount railway station during broad daylight on Thursday, sending shock waves across the city.

But, did you know that a similar murder has happened in the city in 2016?

Swathi, an IT professional, was hacked to death, allegedly by Kumar, an engineering graduate, on June 24 in 2016 while she was waiting to board a train at a platform of Nungambakkam suburban railway station to her work place on the city outskirts, an incident which was caught on CCTV.

Her body lay at the station for more than two hours, but no one came forward to help.

The accused, Ramkumar, was staying near Swathi's residence in Choolaimedu area here and had stalked her for months before allegedly killing her using a sickle.

In fact, the body lay at the station for more than two hours, but no one came forward to help.

The slain woman's parents contended the murder of their young blossoming daughter occurred at a crowded place in daylight. It would have been averted if the railway authorities, including the Railway Protection Force (RPF), who was duty-bound to provide security to the passengers, had acted diligently.

The sheer negligence on their part had emboldened the assailant(s) to murder their daughter. So, the Southern Railway is bound to pay the compensation, they further contended.