On Monday night, just metres away from Chennai’s Royapettah police station, Pandiammal, a 38-year-old woman and her three teenage daughters were murdered, their heads smashed with a rod.
People living near Pandiammal’s house in Muthu Street have still not gotten over the shock and what baffles them the most is that Chinnarasu, the husband and alleged killer had left the bodies rotting for more than two days.
Thirty-five-year-old Chinnarasu was arrested on Friday near the Marina beach and the police say he killed Pandiammal and her three daughters from another marriage in a fit of anger. Pavithra (19) and Parimala (18) were graduation students, while Sneha (16) was in Class XII.
Some in the neighborhood even spoke to Chinnarasu on Thursday morning, and he had acted normal. His behavior was in spite of the fact that four bodies were rotting away inside the house.
“On Thursday morning, the house owner Raja Bahadur complained about a foul smell and was asking us if a rat or rodent had died. Chinnarasu man was quick to respond, he came down and said it was from his house and threw away something in a packet. He then immediately left saying, he was going for work,” says Lakshmi, a housewife, (28).
When the smell persisted, one of the neighbours peeped into the house, and shockingly saw blood on the floor.
The neighbours say though the bodies were cleared, the stench was palpable as the house had still not been thoroughly cleaned.
Families living on the same floor have left, fear and the stench drove them away says another neighbour.
Lakshmi says that Chinnarasu was behaving differently that week, “He never used to talk to us before. But on Tuesday morning, he told us that his wife and kids had left to their native place over a fight,” says Lakshmi.
Though Chinnarasu and Pandiammal were a couple, they were not legally married according to the police.
“If the girls had indicated to us that they were facing some problem, we could have helped them or informed the police,” says Lakshmi.
Most neighbours said that they had not heard anything untoward that night and were shocked to know about the murder.
“In 2012, the family rented my house. They met in Karaikudi at an idli shop she was running. They fell in love and Chinnarasu told Pandiammal that she could leave her work, they could get married and he would take care of her and her three daughters. They came to Chennai and he started working at an eatery shop in Pattinapakkam,” said house owner Raja Bahadur.
“The man has confessed about the murder but the reason for the fight between the Chinnarasu and his partner is not known,” Akhilan, Sub-Inspector of Royapettah police station said.