Thangamuthu, 55, a labourer, and his daughter Sumathi, 31, were beaten to death by his neighbours on Wednesday when their 15-year-old dispute over the compound wall resurfaced on ‘Pongal.’
The police arrested Jayaraj, 58, a labourer from Veduvar Colony, his sons Raja, 28, and Antony, 35 for allegedly murdering Thangamuthu and his daughter Sumathi.
They said Jayaraj and Thangamuthu had dispute over the ownership of a two-feet-wide strip of land between their houses and the long-drawn legal battle went in favour of Thangamuthu recently. When Sumathi, a mother of four children, who had come to his father’s house for Pongal celebrations, started whitewashing the wall of the house by going through the two-feet-wide land under dispute, it triggered altercation between her and Jayaraj’s family. When she was attacked with an iron rod, Thangamuthu rushed to save his daughter but he also came under the attack.
Sustaining gruesome head injuries, both Thangamuthu and Sumathi died on the spot.
On getting information about the double murder, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Tirunelveli City, S. Saravanan and the police rushed to the spot and sent the bodies to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital for post mortem.
Meanwhile, the Melapalayam police arrested Jayaraj and his sons for allegedly murdering the father and his daughter.
