23-year-old woman hacked to death by jilted man in Coimbatore

A 23-year-old engineering graduate was hacked to death in Coimbatore on Wednesday night, after she allegedly rejected the advances of a man from Kerala, police said on Thursday.

A 23-year-old engineer was allegedly hacked to death in Coimbatore by a spurned man who later tried to commit suicide by consuming poison, police said on Thursday.

A 23-year-old engineering graduate was hacked to death in Coimbatore after she allegedly rejected the advances of a man from Kerala.(Shutterstock/Representative image)

The accused, identified only as Zahir, hails from Kerala and was working in a mill at Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, which has been rocked by similar incidents of stalking and murderous assaults over spurned advances.

In 2013, India made stalking a crime with punishment up to three years in jail but harassment of women leading to tragic incidents continues to take place across the country.

According to police, the victim, S Dhanya, was alone when the accused allegedly entered her house and hacked her to death on Wednesday. The incident took place around 8 pm. Dhanya’s body was found later by her mother Sharada.

Zahir is currently in an ICU ward in Palakkad. “We have registered a case of murder against him,” a police official said. “We haven’t arrested him yet”.

Dhanya was engaged to be married and had recently joined a private engineering firm. The police said that Zahir, 27, was Dhanya’s family friend and had known her for over a year.

Last month, a 20-year-old engineering student was beaten to death inside a college classroom by a senior in Karur district, around 400 km from Chennai. Sonali knew the alleged killer, Udhaya Kumar, but had stopped speaking to him after he was suspended.

A day later, N Francina, a 24-year-old teacher, was beaten to death inside a church in Tuticorin. Her assailant was found hanging at his home a few hours later.

In July, a 24-year-old Infosys employee, Swathi, was hacked to death at a busy railway station in Chennai, prompting outrage across the country. Her attacker, Ramkumar, is currently awaiting sentencing.