Chennai: A 79-year-old man murdered his 65-year-old wife by stabbing her in the neck at their Thirumullaivoyal residence on Wednesday, allegedly because she failed to serve him food on time.
Vinayagam later tried to kill himself by slitting his neck, but escaped.
Police, who identified the slain woman as Dhanalakshmi, said she and Vinayagam, who is suffering from diabetes and had lost his right leg, frequently quarrelled, mainly because he thought she was not caring for him properly. While Vinayagam always insisted on having food on time as he had to take the tablets prescribed for his ailment, Dhanalakshmi too was unwell and could not serve food on time, police said.
On Wednesday, after their sons Ganapathy and Manikandan, both unmarried, left for work, Vinayagam and Dhanalakshmi were by themselves at their residence in Kamalannagar. Vinayagam again started an argument and stabbed her in the neck with a kitchen knife and then tried to slit his neck.
When the sons returned home late in the evening, they found their mother lying dead and their father lying nearby. He was conscious. When they asked him about what happened, he remained silent for a long time, giving vague responses.
One of his sons alerted the Thirumullaivoyal police. A team arrived and began questioning during which Vinayagam confessed to the crime.
Dhanalakshmi’s body was taken to govt Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital for postmortem, while Vinayagam, who suffered injuries to the neck, was sent to the same hospital. Police registered a case of murder against Vinayagam.