Chennai college student murders mother, brother

The Thiruvottriyur Police on Saturday, June 22, 2024, arrested a 20-year-old for allegedly murdering his mother and his brother at their house on Wednesday.

The double murder only came to light only after two days, following the receipt of a WhatsApp message sent by the suspected murderer to a relative of the deceased.

The deceased have been identified as M. Padma, 45, who was an acupuncture therapist and her younger son M. Sanjay, 14, who was a class 10 student. Padma’s elder son M. Nithesh was studying at a city college. Her husband Murugan, worked as a crane operator in Oman while Padma stayed with her sons in Thirunagar First Street, Thiruvottriyur.

Police sources said Padma’s niece Mahalakshmi received a WhatsApp message from her cousin Nithesh at 12.30 am on Saturday, stating that he had left his home after leaving his mobile phone and the key of the house in a bag near the house. She then went to his house and opened the door using the key. A foul smell emanated from the house, and she found the bodies of her aunt Padma and her other cousin Sanjay, their heads severed, and covered in plastic bags.

Mahalakshmi alerted the police control room. On receipt of information, police personnel from Thiruvottriyur station rushed to the spot and recovered the bodies and severed heads. Nithesh could not be traced. After sending the bodies to the Government Stanley Hospital for post-mortems, the police began an investigation.

Police quickly found and nabbed Nithesh who was sleeping on the beach in Thiruvottriyur on Saturday. He was taken to the police station and subjected to an interrogation. During the interrogation, police came to know that Nithesh had 14 arrears in his semester examinations and his mother had repeatedly scolded him for this.

At one point he had left home angry, but later, his friends had reunited him with his family. He reportedly told the police that his mother used to say his father’s earnings were not adequate to support the family and so, since he was constantly stressed, he was not able to perform well in college. He had believed that he would have to shoulder the responsibility of the family if his father’s earnings dwindled further. There was also other complications in the family and all of this, finally led him to murder his mother and his brother, he claimed. He had also decided to end his life later, he told police.

Police said that after the murders, he went with his friends to watch a film at a nearby theatre. He decided not to go ahead with his earlier plan to end his life out of to fear, and was just wandering around the beach, before he fell asleep and was found.

(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416. and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)