Chennai: A woman victim of domestic violence murdered her 45-year-old husband by smashing his head with a boulder while he was sleeping at his house in Manali on Saturday night.
Police identified the deceased as Durai Raj, a habitual offender, who had been arrested by the police many times on charges of burglary and other petty crimes.
Having spent three months in jail after police had arrested him based on a complaint of domestic violence from his wife Manjula, he came out on August 17.
Durai Raj, who had been living with his wife Manjula and daughter Pavithra (21) in CPCL Nagar, Manali, would spend all his money to buy alcohol. Manjula was running a tea stall near their house to make ends meet and get their daughter married. But Durai Raj used to steal the money from her also to buy liquor and this used to be a major point of conflict between him and his wife.
According to the police, he was least bothered about her daughter’s marriage and never saved anything for it. “In 2015, Durai Raj had slashed his wife’s neck and hands with a blade following an argument over their daughter’s marriage,” police disclosed.
Durai Raj returned from prison on Thursday and found his wife had married off their daughter Pavithra to AC mechanic Stephen and the newly wedded couple was also living with Manjula.
He was furious when he came to know about his daughter’s marriage had taken place without his consent.
“Manjula was not at home when Durai Raj returned from jail. He allegedly tortured Pavithra and assaulted her”, the police said.
Pavithra narrated the incident to Manjula when she returned home, making her furious with her husband’s action.
“On Saturday night, she smashed his head with a piece of rock while he was asleep and killed him. She later confessed to the crime to the Manali police,” a police officer said, adding that Manjula had been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
