The Anamalai police have arrested a 46-year-old man on charges of murdering an 80-year-old woman after sexually assaulting her.
The police said that the accused, a farm worker, committed the crime under the influence of alcohol on September 16 evening. P. Ponnusamy, a resident of Ganapathipalayam near Anamalai, was arrested by the police late on Friday.
The police said that Ponnusamy worked in a farm close to the residence of the elderly woman who lived with her daughter and son-in-law. Ponnusamy came to the house when her daughter and son-in-law were away. They returned to the house around 8 p.m. and found the woman sitting outside and vomiting. They gave water to the woman and she died, said the police.
The body was autopsied next day and doctors opined that the woman was raped and smothered.
The son-in-law of the deceased found a pair of sandals and a towel near the residence. As the sandals and towel did not belong to anyone in the house, they were handed over the items to the police. The investigating team questioned farm workers in the locality and some of them identified that the sandals and the towel belonged to Ponnusamy.
The police took Ponnusamy into custody from Ganapathipalayam late on Friday and questioned him. He confessed to the police that he worked in a farm close to the residence of the woman and sexually assaulted her under the influence of alcohol. The accused smothered her while assaulting her sexually, the police said. Ponnusamy was remanded in judicial custody.
