Man stabs techie daughter-in-law, her brother to death over dispute

CHENNAI: A man stabbed his estranged daughter-in-law, an

IT employee from Bengaluru

, and her

brother in Pallikaranai

on Monday evening following a heated argument.

Kosalan, who also stabbed the duo's sister Bhavani, leaving her hospitalised, later surrendered before police. The deceased were identified as Varalakshmi, 26, and her brother Kothandaraman, 30.

Police said

Varalakshmi and Vinayagamoorthy

, Kosalan's son, four years ago, but separated after only three months.

“The couple were living apart for more than three years as Varalakshmi refused to go in for a patch-up with her husband,“ said an investigating officer.

Since repeated talks failed, they decided to get divorced. Varalakshmi, Kothandaraman and Bhavani came to Vinayagamoorthy's's house in Pallikaranai on Monday for talks. He was away at work and Kosalan, an autorickshaw driver, agreed to talk to them. During an argument, Kothandaraman abused Kosalan, police said. An enraged Kosalan exchanged blows with Kothandaraman, then ran to the kitchen and came out with a knife. He stabbed Kothandaraman. Seeing Varalakshmi and Bhavani trying to run away , he chased and attacked them with the knife, leaving them bleeding. Hearing the commotion, several of the family's neighbours rushed to the spot and caught hold of Kosalan. The man later went to the Pallikaranai police station and admitted to the murders.

Police registered a case and sent the bodies to the Chromepet government hospital for postmortem. Bhavani, who suffered multiple stab injuries, is undergoing treatment at the hospital. Police are investigating the motive behind the attack.