Court hearing, family quarrel, then murder: Minor girl, three women among six in Suchindram killing

NAGERCOIL: A minor girl has been arrested in connection with the hacking death of a 30-year-old man at Suchindram, with police saying a dispute linked to a 2021 murder led to the fatal attack. The girl, daughter of Suchindram resident Chellaiyan, was arrested by a special investigation team in connection with the murder of Madhuraveeran, a resident of Mylady Kamarajar Nagar who was on the police goonda list.

Police have named five others as accused — Mariappan, 29, his mother, his two wives, Muthulakshmi, 24, and Saranya, 24, and another person. Four of the six accused are women. The minor was taken to the Suchindram police station, where her arrest was recorded. She was later produced before a court and sent to a juvenile home.

Police said the killing was rooted in an earlier rivalry. Mariappan is the brother of Chellaiyan, whom Madhuraveeran allegedly killed during a dispute in 2021. Madhuraveeran was arrested in that case and was later placed on the police goonda list as he was facing other cases as well.

Madhuraveeran appeared at the Padmanabhapuram court on Monday in connection with the 2021 murder case. After the hearing, he went to Mariappan’s house to discuss settling the case, police said.
The meeting ended in a quarrel. Mariappan and his family members allegedly attacked Madhuraveeran with sickles and hacked him to death before escaping.

Police have since stepped up the hunt for the accused. Kanyakumari District Police Chief Stalin has put two special investigation teams on the case.
Acting on a tip-off, the teams searched various places in the Thoothukudi region for the remaining accused. The search is continuing.