The Crime Branch CID has arrested a doctor on charges of killing his mother and staging the scene as a ‘murder for gain’ case. His wife was also arrested for being an accomplice to the alleged murder that took place in Manalmedu in Mayiladuthurai district on December 21, 2020.
Giving details of the recent arrest of the couple and how the agency achieved a breakthrough in the case, a CBCID official said Janaki (72), who retired as an Assistant Head Mistress in a government school, was found dead in a pool of blood in her residence in Manalmedu. Her elder son Parirajan, who works as a Ayush doctor in a Primary Health Centre, lodged a complaint with the police that his mother was murdered by a gang that decamped with her gold jewels.
Preliminary inquiries by the local police revealed that one Ayyavu (60) in the neighbourhood used to visit Janaki often to assist her in daily chores. With some people in the locality spreading rumours alleging them to be in a relationship, Ayyavu’s wife went to Janaki’s house a few days before her death and shouted at her for seeking her husband’s help for domestic works.
Suspecting the role of Ayyavu in the case, the local police inquired him about his frequent visits to Janaki’s place. Disturbed over her death and fearing that he could be implicated he attempted to end to end his life and later died in a hospital while under treatment, the official said.
With little progress in the case, Janaki’s younger son moved the Madras High Court seeking to transfer the case to the CBCID. After the case was transferred, the agency formed a special team to analyse the circumstances that led to the murder of the septuagenarian. Based on eyewitness accounts and field inquiries, investigators found certain contradictions in the complaint and the sequence of events a day before the victim’s death.
Their suspicion turned to Dr. Parirajan who had visited her mother’s place along with his wife before the incident but did not reveal the information to the police. Only a chain was found missing whereas other gold jewels worn by Janaki remained untouched. Even jewels kept in an open almirah were found intact. Technical evidence further strengthened the suspicion on the doctor.
Police picked up Dr. Parirajan for inquiry and confronted him with evidence of his presence at a time that he did not reveal and also purchase of a gold ornament. The accused confessed to having hit his mother with a wooden log over a heated argument. After she fell unconscious, he moved her body to another room with the help of his wife. The couple locked the main door from inside and escaped through the rear door, the official said.
The doctor and his wife were arrested and remanded in judicial custody. Investigation revealed that the death of Janaki was a case of murder but staged as a ‘murder for gain’ case to divert the focus of investigators.
