Chennai: A 25-year-old teacher was stabbed to death by her former boyfriend at a government school in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district on Wednesday, a day after her father turned down the accused’s marriage proposal, according to police, who added that the perpetrator has been detained.
A senior police official, who did not want to be recognized, stated that the 30-year-old offender, Madan Kumar, entered the victim’s school while the gate was open. There was no security on the site.
He then asked one of the pupils where the teacher was, and she pointed him to the staff room. The accused approached her, chatted briefly, and then repeatedly stabbed her in the stomach and neck, according to the officer. He then fled the scene instantly.
The teachers at the school informed the police and requested an ambulance. However, the teacher died before arriving at Pudukkottai government hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Madan was apprehended by Sethubavachathiram police and charged with murder within half an hour of leaving the school grounds.
For the last six months, the victim worked as a temporary Tamil teacher at the Mallipattinam Government Higher Secondary School, teaching classes 6 to 9. She and the accused are both from Chinnamanai village.
“Preliminary investigations show that the victim and Madan had been together for one-and-a-half years,” according to the officer. “But, she had recently given up on their relationship because her parents didn’t want them to be together.”
On November 19, Madan’s father, Pannersevlam, met with the victim’s father at around 4 p.m. to discuss their marriage, but the latter declined. “Madan was enraged by this and stabbed her around 10.15am on Wednesday,” the official said. “He told us that he wanted to die by suicide after murdering her.”
We didn’t see him attack her; we just saw her collapse,” Manjula, a teacher at the school, said.
A video emerged from the school, showing a group of students and townspeople transporting the critically injured and unconscious victim to the ambulance.
Following the event, school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi directed the district collector to provide counseling to the pupils and announce a holiday for the day.
Later in the day, Tanjavur Superintendent of Police Ashish Rawat and his team visited the school.
On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin offered ₹5 lakh ex gratia for the next of kin from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief funds. “It was unexpected and distressing to read about the unfortunate tragedy at Mallipattinam Government School in Thanjavur. Condolences to Teacher Ramani’s family. It is a horrific occurrence in which the teacher was hacked to death. The culprit was apprehended quickly, and this case will be given extra attention to ensure that the offender receives the highest punishment possible under the law,” MK Stalin stated in a statement.
