College woman murdered by estranged lover near Pollachi

COIMBATORE: A 19-year-old woman, who was a second year BSc (IT) student at a private college, was murdered by her estranged lover at her residence in Vadugapalayam near Pollachi on Monday.

Later, he surrendered before police.The murdered woman has been identified as K Ashvika, 19, of Ponmuthu Nagar in Vadugapalayam. She was studying in a private college in Malumichampatti.She was murdered by R Praveenkumar, 25, of Annamalai Nagar in Pollachi who worked as a collection agent at a private finance firm in Pollachi. Earlier, he lived in Vadugapalayam with his family where he fell in love with Ashvika two years ago.

Both families discussed the possibility of their marriage.Meanwhile, Ashvika used to keep photographs taken with her college friends as her WhatsApp status. Praveenkumar advised her not to keep photos of male students in the college as WhatsApp status. However, she continued to do so.Two months ago, she took a photo with her close relative’s son and kept it as her WhatsApp status. Praveenkumar became angry on seeing the photo and complained about it to Ashvika's parents.

Her parents advised him to end the relationship since they didn’t like him suspecting their daughter and harassing her mentally. The relationship ended two months ago.Police said Ashvika posted an animated photo with the caption ‘Most hated person’ on her Instagram page and kept it as her WhatsApp status on Monday. Praveenkumar saw the animated photo on social media and became furious. He went to her residence when she was alone and argued with her.

Later, he assaulted her with a penknife on her neck. When the penknife broke, he took a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her in three places. When she fell unconscious, he fled the scene and surrendered before the Pollachi West police.Her father, Kannan, returned home around 12.30 pm and found his daughter lying unconscious with severe bleeding injuries. He took her to Pollachi Govt Hospital, where doctors declared her dead.The police registered a case against Praveenkumar and remanded him in judicial custody.