A wordy quarrel between a 72-year-old man and his son took a turn for the worse with the former committing filicide.
The grave offence took place in front of their residence at North Arangoor village near Thottiyam in the late hours on Sunday.
Acting on information, the Thottiyam police arrested septuagenarian P. Srinivasan on the charge of killing his 28-year-old son S. Thulasiraman, a painter, on a complaint lodged by the man’s wife S. Sivabakkiyam (66).
The father and son were said to be in an inebriated condition when a wordy quarrel broke out between them over a petty issue. In a fit of rage, Srinivasan allegedly attacked Thulasiraman with a knife and stabbed him on his chest and right eye brow killing him on the spot.
A case of murder has been booked by the Thottiyam police.
Police sources said the quarrel arose when Thulasiraman intervened while Srinivasan was scolding Sivabakkiyam.
Angered by his son's act, Srinivasan picked up a knife and stabbed him on the spot, police sources said.
So far this year, 15 murder cases, including a couple of ‘murder for gain’ case, have been booked in the district which accounts for 30 law and order police stations. For the entire last year - from January to December - the police had registered 32 murder cases of which three pertained to murder for gain.
The motive behind the murders were varied, say the law enforcers.
The police have classified the motives for murder under 18 heads.
These include petty or wordy quarrel, land or property dispute, money transaction, business rivalry, drunken brawl, murder for gain, love affair or sexual causes, previous enmity, dowry murder, psychopathic killing, caste-related and other causes.
According to police statistics, love affair or sexual causes, petty quarrel, land or property dispute and previous enmity were the predominant causes for most murders reported in 2017 and in the current year till now. Murders have also been committed due to problems arising out of money transactions, previous enmity and family quarrel, the statistics state.
In one case, the reason for the murder was not known and in five other cases it was murder for gain.
Citing investigation, the sources say 10 murders were committed due to love affair or sexual causes and in eight other cases the murders were result of petty / wordy quarrel.
