Chennai: A 24-year-old wife of a priest at Vengeeswarar Temple (Vadapalani Sivan Koil) was found murdered when a neighbor stumbled over her dead body in their house at Vadapalani on Thursday.
While the wife identified as Ganapriya was beaten to death, her priest-husband was found gagged in an unconscious state in the common bathroom of the apartment when their owner Vijayalakshmi visited their house around 6 am said an investigating officer said.
The owner said she found 27-year old Prabhu, a priest, with his hands and feet tied with rope, gagged, in an unconscious state in a common bathroom on the first floor of the building.
According to initial reports, two unidentified men visited the priest’s house around 1.30 am.
“They spotted Prabhu coming out of the bathroom situated outside the house very close to the entrance and tied his hands before they hit him with an iron rod. Later, the men entered the house and hit Gnanapriya also with an iron rod,” said the investigation officer.
The owner in her statement said, “As I went near the door to check if Prabhu had left for the temple, I found him lying on the bathroom floor (situated outside the house, but close to its entrance) with his hands tied with a piece of cloth and another cloth around his neck. When I went inside the house to call Gnanapriya, she was found bleeding from her head and hands and legs were also tied with a rope,” adding she “immediately informed police who rushed to the spot.”
One of the ground floor neighbor said, “We did not hear any noise the whole night. This morning, we woke up to the knocks of the police on our door for inquiry. It was shocking when we heard about the murder. My husband came back from work only by 11.30 pm, till then nobody else entered the building.”
Another neighbour who stayed on the same floor as the couple said, “We stay very close, yet we did not hear any noise or even scream. This morning, only after the landlord alerted us we found
Prabhu lying unconscious in the bathroom and there were blood stains. Gnanapriya would be very friendly and play with my children. This morning, we found all the things in their house shattered and the front room with blood stains and her hands and legs were tied with a rope.”
The Police have now registered a case and is investigating the matter, New Indian Express reported.
The couple hailed from Kancheepuram and had been living in the house for the past two years.