A 52-year-old woman was discovered dismembered in two overhead water tanks in the Arisipalayam area of Salem on Tuesday. Authorities believe she may have been murdered for the jewellery she was wearing at the time of her death. Three suspects have been arrested and are currently being interrogated by police as the investigation unfolds.
Ramesh, a priest living in one of the homes, opened a water tap on Monday morning and noticed a foul smell emanating from the tap; he and his family had returned home after two days. Police are also probing the possibility of a soured relationship leading to the murder as one of the three was reportedly in a relationship with the victim. Suspecting a problem in the overhead water tank, he went upstairs with his son to inspect it. They found a bloodied plastic bag containing human body parts inside the tank and alerted the Pallapatti police. Based on surveillance videos and questioning residents of the locality, the police arrested three people, including a woman. They were identified as Nandhini, M Malik Basha and K Sivaram.
The motive behind the murder has emerged as “murder for gain” as the jewellery worn by the victim were missing. Police said that one of the accused was also in an ‘illicit’ affair with the victim.
The case involves the shocking discovery of dismembered body parts of the victim — identified as Thangamani — stashed in overhead water tanks in two houses in the Arisipalayam area of Salem district on Tuesday. He asked not to be named. “Since, the victim had been working as a house help in the region for several years, the accused on the pretext of providing her a job took her to a residence and committed the crime (August 30).
Sivaram is a butcher who runs a shop in the area while Malik Basha works in a private firm, police said; Nandhini’s details were not immediately available. The knives used to dismember the victim’s body were provided by Sivaram and have been seized, a police officer said. Since, they did not know what to do with the dismembered body parts, the accused decided to conceal them in the overhead water tanks of the two houses,” a senior police officer said.
