Mother’s lover kills teenager in Chennai, arrested from Virar

The accused, Raju Mani Nair (in yellow shirt), was nabbed by the Chennai police with help from Virar police on Friday. Pic/Hanif Patel

A 28-year-old man was arrested from Virar on Friday for killing a teenager in Chennai on November 12. Forensic experts have confirmed that the accused, Raju Mani Nair, had intercourse with the corpse before fleeing to Virar East.

As per the complaint filed by the deceased 18-year-old's mother with the Poonamallee police in Chennai, the accused, who is her lover, strangled her daughter when she was not at home. "When I returned home from work, the house was locked from outside. I opened the door with my keys and found my daughter lying unconscious. There were marks around her neck and she was not breathing. I was in shock. Later when I asked a neighbour, she said Raju had left in a hurry after locking the door," the woman told the police in her statement.

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"The earring and silver anklets which my daughter was wearing are missing apart from Rs 20,000 in cash," read the FIR.

The mother of the deceased was estranged from her husband and her two children lived with the latter. Later, she started living with Nair and brought her daughter to live with them only a few months ago. "Raju had promised me that he would take care of my children. That is the reason I brought them to stay with me," the mother told Chennai police.

The complainant further added that Nair had recently started making sexual advances at her daughter. "Around 15 days ago, when we were sleeping, Raju touched my daughter inappropriately. She got up and shouted at him. Even since then, my daughter started to dislike him," she mentioned in the FIR, a copy of which is with mid-day.

A police officer said that Nair probably planned the murder as "he had asked the deceased's mother to leave her mobile phone at home while leaving for work that day."

Inspector P R Chidambaramurugesan from the Poonamallee police (law and order) told mid-day, "The forensic team orally told me that the killer had sexual intercourse with the body of the girl."

After this revelation, cops added charges of rape to the FIR which was earlier registered under Sections 302 (murder) and 380 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code, said a source from Virar police which helped Chennai police nab the accused.

Police sources said that Nair had arrived at Virar to his wife after committing the crime. "At the time of fleeing, he had taken the mobile phones of the deceased and her mother. Though he had kept his phone switched off, he had turned on one of the stolen phones, sending an alert to the police. We then contacted Virar police and reached there to arrest him," Chidambaramurugesan told mid-day.

12
Day in November when the incident took place