Villagers and cops in front of the house in Namakkal district where the woman was killed

NAMAKKAL: Residents of a village near here on Friday night stoned to death a 41-year-old history-sheeter after he murdered a 69-year-old woman, who resisted his attempts to push her three granddaughters into prostitution and threw acid at police while trying to flee. Two police officers and at least 20 villagers suffered burns in the acid attack .

The Puduchatram police identified the slain history-sheeter as Samuel of Dharmapuri district who has more than 15 cases pending against him in various police stations in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts.

A police officer said Samuel was in a relationship with R Vijayalakshmi, a 45-year-old widow of the village. “Vijayalakshmi has three daughters and all of them moved out to live with their grandmother Dhanammal after their mother tried to force them into the flesh trade. While two of them are school students, the elder one is in college,” the officer added.

On Friday, around 8pm, Samuel came to the village to take the three girls with him. “When Dhanammal refused to send her granddaughters with him, Samuel attacked her with a blade and a knife. Hearing her cries, several of her neighbours gathered in front of her house and attempted to rescue all of them,” the officer said.

Samuel, however, brandished a sickle and managed to keep them at bay. The villagers then alerted the Puduchatram police and a strike force soon arrived at the spot.

While attempting to rescue the woman, police opened fire at Samuel. “But the bullet got stuck in the barrel. In his bid to escape, Samuel then threw acid at police, injuring sub inspectors Muruganandham and Karthikeyan. When police tried to open fire again, he hacked the woman to death,” said R Arularasu, district superintendent of police.

The infuriated villagers suddenly began hurling stones and boulders at Samuel. “He received grave injuries to the head and other parts of the body and collapsed. He was taken to the Rasipuram Government Hospital where he later died of injuries without responding to treatment,” the SP said. The officer said Samuel was a notorious history-sheeter and that police had launched a manhunt for him in connection with other cases.

Dhanammal’s body was sent to the Rasipuram government hospital for postmortem. The Puduchatram police have registered a case and further inquiry is on.

