Kovai police arrested a 25-year-old man from Selvapuram on Thursday for murdering his wife
and later cooking up a suicide drama to divert the police.
Police said the culprit, M. Kodiyarasu, had strangled is wife to death using a duppatta and informed neighbours on Wednesday morning that she had committed suicide by hanging.
Later Kodiyarasu claimed that he rushed her to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital, police
said.
Doctors at Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital however concluded that his wife Malar was strangled to death and ruled out the suicide theory.
Police said the couple had given their two-year-old son for adoption a couple of years ago to his brother Nagaraj who lives in Salem.
“Kodiyarasu had given the child for adoption hoping to have a second kid. However, Malar could not conceive again and insisted to her husband that they bring back their son,” police said. “The couple frequently quarrelled over the issue.”
On Wednesday, Kodiyarasu and Malar, both construction workers, returned home midway from their work site, after a quarrel erupted between them over the same issue.
“In a fit of rage, Kodiyarasu strangled her to death and cooked up a story that she committed suicide to escape from police,” police said.
Investigations revealed that Malar, who was already married to a man from Salem and has two children, had eloped with Kodiyarasu four years ago and was living with him.
The Selvapuram police has registered a case and further inquires are on.