Police have identified the victims of the car accident that occurred on Saturday night, off East Coast Road near Mahaballipuram. Their bodies had been charred beyond recognition after their car went up in flames, the reason for which is yet to be ascertained.
The victims all belonged to the same family and were natives of Palakkad. They have been identified as Jeyadevan (52) and Ramadevi (50)and their daughter Divya Sri (24), who had recently married an army officer. According to multiple reports, Jeyadevan was an auditor while his wife Ramadevi was a retired school teacher. The family resided in Chrompet in Chennai, police told The News Minute.
Police personnel used the car's registration number to trace the identity of the victims. Divya Sri’s husband, Sharath is part of the Indian Army and is posted in Pathankot, according to the police.
(Picture courtesy: http://english.manoramaonline.com)
The family was driving their hatchback to Puducherry when the vehicle caught fire near Manamai around 9 pm. Jeyadevan, who was driving the car, had steered it towards a gated residential plot off the main road, where the car caught fire, Mahaballipuram police told TNM.
"The car has been handed over to the forensic department for further analysis. It seems like a battery or gas leak from what we can tell. But we can't blame the car manufacturers. It could also be because they didn't maintain the car properly. We are waiting for the report," says the investigating officer.
The family, according to the police, was on a joy ride when the car burst into flames, killing all three of them.