Express News Service By

CHENNAI /TIRUNELVELI: It was insulting remarks about personal appearance that provoked Ramkumar to murder Swathi, police sources said on Sunday. Judicial Magistrate M Ramadhas recorded Ramkumar’s statement at the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, two days after he was nabbed by the police for murdering Chennai-based IT professional S Swathi. Ramkumar had attempted to slit his own throat on Friday when police cornered and arrested him.

“He said that he had proposed to Swathi thrice at different locations on different dates. He has stated that when he proposed to her once at the Nungambakkam railway station, she used very harsh words to ridicule his appearance in front of other passengers at the railway station,” said a police official. “He had stated that in two other instances as well, he was hurt by the words Swathi used to describe his appearance,” the police added.

Ram Kumar had confessed that it was these incidents that motivated him to kill Swathi. He planned the attack and managed to get a sickle from his neighbour’s farm in Tirunelveli. Being familiar with Swathi’s routine, he found it easy to select the time and place to carry out his revenge.

The magistrate spent nearly 30 minutes recording his statement in the hospital on Sunday. After the doctors certified him fit to travel, he was taken to Chennai in an ambulance with three doctors and a team of police accompanying him.

“The ambulance is equipped with a life support system. An ENT and an anesthesia specialist are also part of the team,” said Dr Sithy Athiya Munavarah, dean of the Tirunelveli government hospital. The ambulance is expected to reach Chennai early on Monday morning. While doctors say his condition is stable, sources claim that Ram Kumar is still on a liquid diet.

On reaching Chennai, Ram Kumar would be produced before a magistrate court and taken to Puzhal prison. Based on the prison doctor’s opinion, he would either be treated in the prison or shifted to the Royapettah government hospital, which has a prisoner’s ward.