The dismembered body of a woman was discovered stuffed in a suitcase near a construction site in Thoraipakkam, a southern suburb of Chennai, on Thursday. The investigation led to the arrest of a 23-year-old engineering graduate, who police say has admitted to the killing.
The police have identified the victim as a 35-year-old sex worker from Madhavaram, a locality on the northern outskirts of the city. Her severed body parts were found in a suitcase that bore bloodstains.
Police said the arrested person, M Manikandan, is an engineering graduate from Sivagangai district who had recently been living alone in a rented apartment in Thoraipakkam. The investigation into the case began late Wednesday when the woman’s brother reported her missing and helped police trace her last known location. Within hours of the discovery of her body, the police had tracked down and arrested Manikandan.
According to the initial probe, Manikandan allegedly approached the woman through another person, and the two met on Tuesday night at his apartment in Thoraipakkam. Manikandan’s family, with whom he had been living, was out of town at the time. According to the police, it was an argument over money that escalated into violence.
“Manikandan claimed that after a heated dispute over additional payment, he allegedly lost control and attacked the woman with a hammer,” said an officer probing the case. “He allegedly struck her until she was dead. In an attempt to cover up the crime, he allegedly severed the body and stuffed the dismembered parts into a newly purchased suitcase.”
The police said Manikandan’s family was to return on Friday but they changed the plan and decided to return on Thursday itself. “Panicking over his family’s sudden return, he bought a suitcase on Wednesday to dispose of the body. In the early hours of Thursday morning, he allegedly dragged the suitcase, with the body inside, to a nearby construction site and left it in a desolate area about 200-300 meters from his residence,” the officer said.
The woman had left her home on Tuesday night to meet Manikandan. When she failed to return, her brother grew anxious. He attempted to contact her, but her phone was off. Using the “find my device” feature on her phone, he tracked her location to Thoraipakkam, which coincided with the last place she was seen.
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He immediately sought help from local authorities, first approaching a patrol team on Wednesday night. The officers advised him to lodge a formal missing person complaint at the local police station. However, the case took a grim turn on Thursday morning when a passerby noticed the unattended suitcase, which had bloodstains. The Thoraipakkam police were alerted, and they soon found a dismembered body inside. When police called the woman’s brother back to the scene, he confirmed that the body was hers.
Officers reviewed CCTV footage from the area, which included the street where Manikandan’s apartment is situated, and the construction site. In one frame, they spotted a man dragging a heavy suitcase. On further analysis and after speaking to multiple people in the area, neighbours identified him as Manikandan.
“The last call in the woman’s phone was with Manikandan. But CCTV footage identification was easier as a bandage on his hand was visible, from an injury he had sustained during the altercation,” the officer said.
After being taken into custody, Manikandan admitted to the killing, police said. An officer said they are also probing the role of the man who had arranged the meeting between him and the woman.
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The woman had been living with her family in Madhavaram for several years, and it was financial difficulty that forced her into the sex trade, officials said. Manikandan had completed engineering recently, and had secured a job at a private company. An officer part of the investigation team said he was described as a quiet and reserved individual in the locality
The police have sent the woman’s body for postmortem examination before handing it over to the family. Manikandan has been remanded in judicial custody by a magistrate court in the city.
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