india

Updated: Dec 25, 2018 17:50 IST

The Tamil Nadu police have arrested a 19-year-old college student for the murder of her 50-year-old mother. Three others - her Facebook boyfriend, S Suresh, and two minors aged 16 and 17 - have also been arrested.

The girl, identified as S Devipriya, a resident of Anjaneyapuram in Tamil Nadu’s Thiruvallur, is a second year Bachelor of Commerce student at a college in Avadi.

Devipriya allegedly got her mother Banumathi killed for opposing her relationship with Suresh.

“Devipriya had befriended S Suresh, who is also 19-years-old and a resident of Kumbakonam, Thanjavur district, last year through Facebook. Though they had not met in person, they had developed a strong relationship through Facebook. Suresh had claimed to be an IT professional in Mysuru. Devipriya had told her Facebook love story to her mother Banumathi, who had advised her to disbelieve Facebook love proposals and to concentrate on her studies,” Tamil Nadu police sources told Hindustan Times.

Banumathi also restricted Devipriya from using her mobile phone. “Angry at this, Devipriya managed to call Suresh and sought his help in killing her mother. Suresh, in turn, sent two school dropouts, both minors aged 16 and 17, to help Devipriya execute the deed on Monday,” police sources said.

Devipriya introduced the two minors to her mother as her friends. “When Banumathi was alone at home, Devipriya and the two minors attacked her with sickles and killed her,” police said.

Alerted by Banumathi’s screams, the neighbours chased and caught the two minors. The two minors confessed during interrogation and revealed the details of the case which led to Suresh’s arrest on Tuesday.

During preliminary investigations, it came to light that Suresh was not an IT professional as he had claimed. “He was working at a factory in Sri City of Andhra Pradesh. He had lied to Devipriya about his background to make her fall in love with him,” police claimed. Both Devipriya and Suresh have been produced before a city court which has remanded them to police custody.