COIMBATORE: A 32-year-old man hacked his estranged wife to death inside a working women’s hostel on Raja Naidu Street near Gandhipuram on Sunday morning after an intimate photo of her with her lover was sent to him, pushing him into a rage.
Police said Balamurugan’s wife, Sri Priya, 30, had left him four months ago amid marital discord and shifted to Coimbatore, taking up a job at a bag shop on Cross Cut Road. Their 10-year-old son and three-year-old daughter remained in the custody of Balamurugan.
During her stay at the hostel, Priya entered into an extramarital relationship with her husband’s distant relative, Isakki Raja, a married man with three children. On Saturday, Balamurugan travelled to Coimbatore and pleaded with Priya to end the affair and return home, but she refused.
Upon learning of the meeting, Isakki allegedly sent Balamurugan an intimate photograph of himself with Priya. Police said this triggered the violent outburst.
On Sunday morning, Balamurugan arrived at the hostel in an inebriated condition, confronted Priya, and during a heated argument pulled out a sickle from his bag and hacked her to death.
Rathinapuri police recovered Priya’s body and sent it for postmortem at Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital. Balamurugan was found sitting beside the body when officers arrived.
The accused, S Balamurugan of Tirunelveli, even clicked a selfie with her body and posted it as his WhatsApp status with the message, “payment for betrayal is death.”
He was arrested, produced in court, and remanded to judicial custody.
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