CHENNAI: In a case both bizarre and brutal, two unmarried sisters tried to kill their younger brother because he intended to get married, then tried to kill themselves, one dying of self-inflicted injuries to the throat, in Perungalathur on the outskirts of the city on Sunday evening.

Manigandan, 32, on Friday informed his sisters Mahadevi, 38, Nirmala Devi, 36, that he planned to get married, an investigating officer said. They instantly voiced their disapproval as he was the sole bread winner of the family.

“Manigandan and his sisters lived together after their father, Mangalanathan, remarried after their mother died,” the officer said. “He lives in Erode and runs a restaurant there.”

Manigandan left home in anger when his sisters said he could not get married. When he returned home on Sunday, he and his sisters again got into an argument on the issue.

“Mahadevi and Nirmala hit him on the head with a clothes iron and slit his throat,” the officer said. “He was injured but somehow escaped from the house and neighbours rushed him to a private hospital.”

Doctors at the hospital said he required 46 stitches for wounds to the head and neck.

Realising that they would face charges of attempted murder, the sisters panicked. They tried to kill themselves by slitting their throats.

By then the neighbours had alerted the Perungalathur police about the attack on Manigandan.

Policemen went to the house and, finding it locked, broke open the door. They found Nirmala dead and Mahadevi unconscious and bleeding profusely. They rushed her to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and sent Nirmala’s body to the Chromepet Government Hospital for postmortem.

“Manigandan and his sister Mahadevi are in critical condition,” the officer said.

Neighbours told the police that the sisters were graduates and Manigandan had completed his bachelor’s degree and worked for a private company.

Police contacted Manigandan’s father Mangalanathan and he arrived in the city on Monday afternoon and claimed Nirmala’s body after doctors completed the postmortem.