19-year-old kills mother over relationship with her FB friend

A 2ND-YEAR COMMERCE STUDENT, SHE HAS NEVER MET HER ONLINE FRIEND BUT CLAIMS TO HAVE A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM

CHENNAI: A 19-year-old woman allegedly killed, with the help of two juveniles, her mother who objected to her relationship with a Facebook friend, police in Tamil Nadu said on Tuesday.

S Devipriya, a resident of Anjaneyapuram in Thiruvallur district, befriended S Suresh last year. A second-year commerce student, she never met Suresh, a resident of Thanjavur district, but claimed to have a strong relationship with him, a police officer said on condition of anonymity.

She even tried to misguide the police about his identity during questioning on Monday, saying her friend’s name was “Vivek”.

Suresh told Devipriya that he was employed with an information technology company in Mysuru, a claim found to be false after his arrest from his workplace in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.

“When Devipriya told her mother Banumathi about her affair, the latter advised her to concentrate on studies,” the officer said. The mother also restricted her use of cellphone.

“...Devipriya managed to call Suresh and sought his help in killing her mother. Suresh sent two school dropouts, who are 16 and 17 years old,” the officer said.

The three allegedly killed Banumathi with sickles. Hearing her cries, neighbours came running and caught hold of the two juveniles, who confessed to the crime and gave away Suresh’s identity.

“Suresh (who has been brought to Tamil Nadu) worked at a factory in Sri City. He and Devipriya were produced before a court, which remanded them to police custody,” the officer said.