Chennai: Chinnaraj (35), who murdered his 38-year-old-wife and three stepdaughters on Tuesday and lived in the house with their bodies until Thursday night, was arrested during the small hours of Friday.
He had been insisting that Pandiammal, with whom he had been living, let him marry her daughter Pavithra since she was not born to him nor was Pandiammal his legally wedded wife.
The couple would constantly fight over Chinnaraj’s alcoholism. Pandiammal visited her native place last week and returned to the city on Monday morning.
The couple had a fresh quarrel over the wayward ways of Chinnaraj, who stormed out of the house. He came home drunk late at night and was made to sleep outside the cramped 200 sq ft single room house. An irate Chinnaraj woke up during the small hours and smashed the heads of Pandiammal, Pavithra, and Parimala and strangled Sneha using a wire.
Chinnaraj had met Pandiammal in 2012 when he was working in a sweet stall in Palani and they developed a relationship. The woman was living with her 3 daughters and was struggling to make ends meet.
Chinnaraja promised Pandiammal her upkeep along with her children’s education. They moved to Chennai as a couple and settled in Royapettah in 2016.
Pavithra was studying in a polytechnic college while Sneah was in Class XII and Parimala was just preparing to join a paramedical course. Chinnaraj’s landlord tipped off the police on Thursday evening after a foul smell emanated from the house. The killer was picked up when he came to collect his scooter parked on Marina Beach.
