Murder of woman software engineer in Ponmar was preplanned by classmate, say police

Murder of 24-year-old software engineer pre-planned by classmate, close friend, after she spurned his marriage proposal.

Police said the murder of a 24-year-old woman software engineer was pre-planned and executed by the suspect, now in custody — her classmate, and close friend for long. The transman reportedly murdered her, after she spurned his proposal for marriage, slitting her veins, tying her up and setting her on fire.

The victim has been identified as R.Nandhini, a native of Madurai, and the arrested suspect as Vetrimaran alias Pandi Maheswari.

On Saturday, passersby and those in the vicinity spotted fire from an under-construction building in Vedhagiri Nagar, Ponmar, on the outskirts, and heard the cries of a woman from that direction. One of them quickly ran towards the spot and found a woman who was chained, on fire. They quickly put out the fire by throwing sand and later pouring water. They also alerted the police control room about the incident. But by then, the woman was partially burnt, and she had lost a lot of blood as the veins in her hands and legs were cut. She was struggling for life.

The police personnel, including Thalambur inspector, reached the spot. She gave away the name of one ‘Vetri’ and a mobile number to the police personnel before being rushed to Government Chromepet Hospital where she was declared dead.

Thalambur Police Inspector C. Charles began investigation. Police called on the mobile number left by the victim. Initially, the person who answered the call, said he was working at a software firm in Perungudi and feigned ignorance about the woman. However, Vetrimaran volunteered to come to the hospital. On reaching the hospital, he cried saying that the deceased was his close friend Nandhini.

Police questioned Vetrimaran, with the needle of suspicion pointing to him after an analysis of the call records of Nandhini’s mobile phone which was recovered from the scene of crime. On analysing Vetrimaran’s phone with the help of Cyber Crime Police, the police concluded that he was present at the site of the murder . On further interrogation, he confessed to the crime and explained the modus operandi.

Police sources said Nandhini and Vetrimaran alias Pandi Maheshwari were classmates in Madurai up to Class X. Pandi Maheswari underwent a gender transformation surgery and became Vetrimaran. Later, Nandhini came to the city and started working at a software company in Perungudi, and managed to get Vetrimaran a job in the same company. Meanwhile, Vetrimaran had developed an obsession for Nandhini and insisted that the two of them get married. However, she was not interested.