COIMBATORE: A 32-year-old man hacked his estranged wife to death at a working women’s hostel on Raja Naidu Street near Gandhipuram here on Sunday morning over her extramarital affair with another man. He also clicked a selfie with the body and posted it as his WhatsApp status with a message that ‘payment for betrayal is death’.The Rathinapuri police have arrested the murderer, identified as S Balamurugan, of Tirunelveli. According to an investigation officer, Balamurugan’s wife Sri Priya, 30, also a native of Tirunelveli, had left her husband four months ago due to differences of opinion and moved to Coimbatore, where she started working in a bag retail shop on Cross Cut Road. She also left their 10-year-old son and three-year-old daughter in the custody of Balamurugan, who was taking care of them. “Priya, who was staying in a working women’s hostel on Raja Naidu Street, developed an extramarital relationship with Balamurugan’s distant relative Isakki Raja, who was married with three children. On Saturday, Balamurugan met Priya in Coimbatore, asking her to end the relationship with Raja and reunite with him to lead a happy life. Priya refused to return to their native place,” the officer said. Meanwhile, Isakki Raja, who came to know about Balamurugan’s visit, sent an intimate photo of Priya and himself to Balamurugan, the officer said. “Enraged, Balamurugan visited Priya at her hostel in an inebriated state and confronted her about the photo. They entered into a heated argument. Suddenly, Balamurugan took out a sickle from his bag and stabbed her, killing her on the spot. As she lay in a pool of blood, Balamurugan clicked a selfie with the body and posted it as his WhatsApp status.” When alerted, the Rathinapuri police recovered Priya’s body and sent that to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital for a postmortem. Police arrested Balamurugan, who was sitting near his wife’s body, produced him before a judicial magistrate and lodged him in jail under judicial custody.
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