Tamil Nadu man murders daughter on tantrik’s advice

TRICHY: The death of a 13-year-old girl in unexplained circumstances near a waterbody on May 19 in Pudukottai district has been unravelled. It now transpires that she was murdered by her 41-year-old father on the advice of a tantric woman who told him he would get rich if he got rid of her.
The accused Paneerselvam had four children from his first wife Indira, 36, and two from his second wife Mookayi, 40.The victim, Vidya, was the youngest of his children from his first marriage. On May 19, Vidya didn’t return home after she went to fetch water from a nearby waterbody in the morning. Later, she was found lying in a critical condition near the house. She was rushed to Thanjavur medical college where she died the next day.
Pudukkottai district superintendent of police P Ve Arun Sakthi Kumar said that Paneerselvam and Mookayi had difference over monetary issues. It was Mookayi who introduced her husband to S Vasanthi, a tantric, through her relative P Kumar to get rid of their financial issues. Vasanthi suggested Paneerselvam kill one of his daughters which, she claimed, would bring him good fortune. Believing her words, Paneerselvam strangulated his daughter Vidya with the help of Mookayi and Kumar.
After strangulating Vidya, Paneerselvam removed her clothes to make it appear as a sexual assault attempt to misguide police. However, the girl’s body had no sign of such an assault according to the postmortem report, said the SP.
Further inquiries with Paneerselvam showed him giving contradictory statements. He then confessed to have strangled his daughter to death believing the tantric’s words. Incidentally, Mookayi died of health issues on May 30. Police have arrested Kumar along with Panneerselvam and were on the lookout for the tantric and two others involved in the murder.
A case has been booked under IPC section 147, 120(B) and 302 for murder apart from section 12 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) act.