‘Gave sedative-laced drink, smothered her with pillow’: Blackmailed with nudes, doctor kills woman in Chennai | Chennai News
CHENNAI: A 27-year-old doctor from Asthampatti near Salem was arrested by the Kodungaiyur police on Saturday for killing a 26-year-old woman who was blackmailing him, police said. Nithya, a resident of Sattuma Nagar, Thiruvottiyur, who was unemployed, falsely claimed to be working with an IT company in Ambattur and extorted money from several people, police said. She began blackmailing Dr Santosh Kumar, whom she befriended on the internet. She extracted more than 8 lakh from him by threatening to send his nude pictures to his family. This continued harassment pushed Santosh to murder her, police said.On Thursday, Nithya called Santosh to her rented home in Teachers Colony, Kodungaiyur. He gave her alcohol laced with sedatives, smothered her with a pillow, and walked away with 25 sovereigns of gold jewellery.When Nithya’s live-in partner, Balamurugan, returned home in the evening, he found her unconscious. He called an ambulance, but paramedics declared her dead. Police initially registered a case of suicide since there were no external injuries.However, further investigation into Nithya’s mobile phone records revealed her last call was to Dr Santosh Kumar. CCTV footage from the locality also showed the doctor visiting her house on the day of the incident. When questioned, the doctor confessed to the murder.Later, police recovered a jute bag containing gold jewellery from the doctor’s neighbour, Mujpur Pasha. Police questioned Pasha but let him go as he wasn’t involved in the incident.Nithya’s family, unaware of her activities, initially suspected Balamurugan and reported missing jewellery. Police are now examining if others were similarly exploited and whether more people were involved in the network.
