Fashion tech graduate found dead in live-in partner's apartment

CHENNAI: A 21-year-old fashion technology graduate from an institute in Kerala was found dead in her alleged boyfriend's apartment in Urappakkam on Tuesday.

The deceased is a native of Katpadi in Vellore district. She had joined a fashion technology course at an institute in Kerala in 2019 and used to visit her mother, Geetha once every three months. Recently, the girl had come home on June 3 and told her mother that she will be leaving to Chennai for project work with her friends and went on to stay with her boyfriend.

Police said that the deceased's parents are separated. The girl's father was a policeman and settled abroad after separating from the family, police said.

On June 17, the victim had called her mother and told her that she would be coming home, but did not and she did not return phone calls after which the woman rushed to Chennai. With the help of her friends, the mother learnt that she was staying with her boyfriend, Ashwin at an apartment in Jagdish Nagar, Urapakkam.

The girl's family found her hanging and moved her to the hospital, where she was declared brought dead. Guduvanchery Police secured the body and are investigating.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the couple recently had a break-up after which Ashwin went to live with his parents while the victim was alone in the house.