Man arrested for murdering 80-year-old neighbour

The Karumathampatty police on Wednesday arrested a 65-year-old man on charge of murdering an elderly woman neighbour for her one-sovereign gold ring.

R. Gopalan, a resident of Valayapalayam of Karumathampatty was arrested for murdering his neighbour K. Arukkaniyammal, 80, who was residing alone at the same locality.

The police said that Arukkaniyammal continued to reside alone after the demise of her husband Karuppasamy. Her three daughters and a son live at different locations.

According to the police, one of the daughters, namely Santhamani, visited Arukkaniyammal on Tuesday and provided her with food. Santhamani found her mother dead inside the house when she visited her with food on Wednesday morning.

After being alerted about the death, the Karumathampatty police rushed to the house. The police found that the elderly woman had been strangled to death. They questioned neighbours, including Gopalan in connection with the murder.

During questioning, Gopalan confessed to the police that he murdered the elderly neighbour for her one-sovereign gold ring. The police arrested him and recovered the stolen ring from him.