Alcohol kills love in marriage, kills man too in Arcot tragedy

Vellore: The gruesome murder of a young electrician and his one-year-old son by his wife at a village near Arcot a couple of days ago has turned out to be yet another case of illicit relationship claiming innocent lives.

Deepika, 20, had fallen for her husband Raja's friend Jayaraj after he intervened multiple times to protect her from the drunk's rage. The lovers had met at her place during the husband's absence and in course of time, began discussing life afresh, together. They decided Raja must die and the little kid too should be got rid of so that they could start a family of their own after convincing the relatives and the police that the drunk had disappeared and he took away the child.

Only the two did not realise it would not be so easy to get away with such a stupid plan. When she complained to the police on May 13, the first thing that the cops wanted was the missing man's mobile phone so they could track him down. The wife said that wouldn't be possible since he had left the phone at home and disappeared. That led the police to suspect this too could be one of those cases of an illicit relationship getting rid of obstacles in the family. They tightened the screws on the woman and she cracked under intense questioning.

Deepika told the police she killed her husband, who had passed out after a drunken brawl, by throwing a boulder on his head and strangled the kid because she did not want him to grow up being ridiculed by society as a murderer's son. The police then pointed out to her it would have been impossible for her to handle the task of disposing of the two bodies all by herself. They wanted her to reveal the identity of the person who had helped her in this, even if that person had not participated in the murders. She then confessed to her affair with Jayaraj.

Interestingly, Jayaraj told the police it was true the two had discussed killing Raja but he did not know she was going to act so soon. He came to know of the crime only after she called him to inform she had killed the husband and kid. She wanted him to help in disposing of the bodies immediately and so he responded, the lover told the cops.

Electrician Raja and Deepika had loved each other before marrying two years ago.