24 year-old Gnanapriya was found dead with her head smashed in, while her husband Prabhu was found tied up in the bathroom. The husband had claimed that the couple had been attacked and initially it was suspected to be a case of robbery.
Police say they have solved the mystery behind the horrific murder of a 24-year-old woman in Chennai's Vadapalani last week. The police's initial suspicions were confirmed with Prabhu's confession that he had murdered his wife when she taunted him for being unable to father a child.
Soon after the murder came to light, 29-year-old Manoj Kumar was arrested. Manoj Kumar was suspected to have aided Prabhu.
The clinching forensic evidence that enabled the confession, however, came in the form of Prabhu’s clothes which carried stains of his wife's blood.
Prabhu admitted to having made the murder look like the scene of a robbery with the help of Manoj Kumar, a fellow priest from Kattupakkam.
"Prabhu refused to admit to the crime and it was only through his aide's confession that we pinned him down," says an investigating official to TNM. "We used CCTV footage to understand his movements in and out of the apartment. In addition to this, we also got all his call records. He was our prime suspect from the beginning. His alibi did not seem convincing," the official adds.
Gnanapriya, according to Prabhu had allegedly taunted him for not being able to father a child even after five years of marriage. This enraged Prabhu who killed her with an iron knife. The knife was recovered from the terrace of the apartment.
"But it was not just about the infertility. They have been fighting continuously for over two years. His ego was wounded at some level because he had not even finished school while she was a degree holder," the official explains. "He was very uncooperative during the investigations," the official adds.
According to a statement by the police, "The accused (Manoj Kumar and Prabhu) ruffled the clothes in the house. Manoj Kumar was asked to keep the stolen jewels and cash in his house. The jewels have been recovered.”
The statement also said that Prabhu hit himself on the head in order to make it look like he was attacked while he asked Manoj Kumar to tie him up.
Early on the morning of April 5, the elderly owner and neighbour of the couple’s house, entered their common toilet on the first floor of their apartment building and found Prabhu unconscious while his wife was lying in a pool of blood inside their house.