MURIKKASSERY (IDUKKI): A man, under the influence of alcohol, killed his mother-in-law by hitting her on the head with an axe. The deceased has been identified as Rajamma (58) of Ambakkadu in Vathikkudi. Her husband Bhaskaran (64) was admitted to a private hospital in Thodupuzha in critical condition. The police said that Sudheesh (33), a native of Panikkankudi, husband of their elder daughter Rajitha, committed the murder.

Sudheesh attacked his wife after coming home drunk at 4 pm yesterday. Bhaskaran and Rajamma tried to stop him and Sudheesh hit them with an axe. After the murder, he got into a vehicle and escaped. Murikassery police reached the spot and shifted Rajamma's body to Idukki Medical College Mortuary.

Bhaskaran and Rajamma have two daughters. Elder daughter Rajitha, who is a nurse at a private hospital in Murikassery, has been going to work from her home in Vathikudi for years. Neighbours say that her husband Sudheesh used to come to his wife's house and do farming in the backyard. Rajamma's tragic end happened when her younger daughter Sunitha, who was fully pregnant, was to be admitted to the hospital the next day.