TN woman murdered by son from first marriage, second husband and nephew

SALEM: A 44-year-old woman was hacked to death near Salem on Jan 15 by her son from her first marriage, her second husband and her nephew over her suspected extramarital affairs. The trio then burnt her body and buried her skeletons near her nephew’s house.

On Friday night, the trio surrendered before a village administrative officer (VAO) and confessed to murdering T Kanakavalli of Kondappanaickenpatti. The VAO recorded their confession and handed them over to the Kannankurichi police on Saturday morning. The police, who had earlier registered a missing person case based on a complaint lodged by Kanakavalli's sister, S Rasathi, 50, changed it into a murder case.

They arrested the trio -- Kanakavalli's 18-year-old son, her second husband L Thavasiyappan of Sankari and her nephew and Rasathi’s son, S Manikandan, 24, of Kondappanaickenpatti. Police said Thavasiyappan had suspected her fidelity. Her son also was not happy with her because of her suspected bad character.

The two with the help of Manikandan hacked her to death on Jan 15, police said. Police said Kanakavalli had been married to Palaniswami. Kanakavalli separated from Palaniswami due to differences, leaving the son with him.

Later, she married Thavasiyappan and gave birth to a son and a daughter. Kanakavalli and Thavasiyappan worked as loom workers. Kanakavalli's son from the first marriage had been staying at Manikandan's house for the past three months and doing masonry work with his cousin. Rasathi told police that Kanakavalli's son had suspected his mother’s character. On Jan 13, Rasathi heard that Kanakavalli was in Manikandan's house. On Jan 15, Rasathi spoke to Kanakavalli. On Jan 16, when Rasathi tried to contact Kanakavalli over her mobile phone, there was no response. She became suspicious and filed a police complaint. The arrested trio were remanded in judicial custody. Further investigations were on, police said.