Premium
This is an archive article published on March 28, 2020

Tamil Nadu man in home quarantine turns violent, bites 75-old-year woman to death

The police said Manikandan tried to flee the spot, attacking people who tried to stop him. He was eventually caught by the mob in a few minutes and handed over to the district police.

Coronavirus, Tamil Nadu, COVID-19, Tamil Nadu government, Edappadi Palanisamy, Corona in Tamil Nadu, Corona cases in Tamil Nadu, Chennai news, Tamil Nadu news, Indian Express News The local residents claimed that a week’s Isolation had pushed Manikandan into depression. (Representative Image/Wikimedia Commons)

A 75-year-old woman passed away Saturday, a day after she was bitten by a man who had escaped from home-quarantine in Jakkamanayakanpatti in Bodinayakanur near Tamil Nadu’s Theni district, police said. Manikandan, 32, was quarantined after he returned to the district, his hometown, from Sri Lanka, where he working in a textile shop.

Manikandan had returned as countries began locking down to contain the spread of Covid-19, and was asked to remain in home-quarantine for 14 days by district health officials, as directed by the Tamil Nadu government. His family too had asked him to remain indoors, without any social contact.

Local residents claimed that a week’s isolation had pushed Manikandan into depression. On Friday afternoon, tearing his clothes off, Manikandan ran out of his house and bit the woman who was sleeping outside her house in the adjacent street. Her neighbours were alerted after she woke up screaming in pain.

The police said Manikandan tried to flee the spot, attacking people who tried to stop him. He was eventually caught by the mob in a few minutes and handed over to the district police.

The old woman was immediately rushed to a local hospital in Bodinayakanur and then was taken to Kanavilakku government hospital where she succumbed to the injuries.

Manikandan was taken to the hospital as well.

“The incident happened in the afternoon on Friday. We have registered a case against Manikandan under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The hospital just confirmed that he is mentally stable, we are waiting for the official reports,” a police official from Bodinayakanur said.

Earlier this week, a 28-year-old man from Pudukkotai with a travel history from Malaysia committed suicide by hanging himself. Local reports said the man was depressed that his friends and family didn’t have a conversation with him during the self-quarantine period and that pushed him to take the extreme step.

Story continues below this ad

On Friday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi said a committee has been formed and 24-hour helpline service is available to help people who are in distress.

Janardhan Koushik is Deputy Copy Editor of indianexpress.com. He is a New Media journalist with over five years of reporting experience in the industry. He has a keen interest in politics, sports, films, and other civic issues. Janardhan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication from SRM Arts and Science College and a PG Diploma in New Media from Asian College of Journalism, one of the top ranked journalism schools in India. He started his career with India Today group as a sub-editor as part of the sports team in 2016. He has also a wide experience as a script-writer having worked for short-films, pilot films as well as a radio jockey cum show producer while contributing for an online Tamil FM. As a multilingual journalist, he actively tracks the latest development in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry utiling his well-established networks to contribute significantly to breaking news stories. He has also worked as a sports analyst for Star Sports. ... Read More

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Latest Comment
Post Comment
Read Comments
Advertisement
Loading Taboola...
Advertisement