A week after a 24-year-old Infosys software engineer S Swathi was murdered at Nungambakkam railway station in Chennai, the police on Friday arrested the accused killer in Tirunelveli.
The police said the killer has been identified as Ramkumar, 22, who is an engineering graduate, was arrested while he was reportedly trying to attempt suicide. A police officer said the accused slit his throat with a sharp object when the police surrounded him. The accused has sustained 60% injury and was rushed to a Government Hospital in Tirunelveli for treatment.
The doctors who examined Ramkumar’s wound said the injury was not very serious. “He is fine and will be shifted to the ICU ward after a minor procedure” a doctor added.
The police said Ramkumar use to live near the victim Swathi’s house and was infatuated with her. Last week on Friday, Swathi was waiting at a platform of the railway station to board a train to work, when the suspect hacked Swathi to death from behind.
In the CCTV footages gathered from the nearby buildings, it was seen that the victim was killed with a sickle, and the suspect was seen running away from the platform. However, the Nungambakkam railway station, where the incident took place, has no CCTV cameras.
On Thursday this week, a new photo of the suspect was released which gave a front view of him for the first time. The murder has created waves of shock and anger, not just over crime’s gruesome nature, but also because of the complete lack of response from those who witnessed the crime.
As per the CCTV footage, Swathi’s body was left on the platform for over two hours as those who witnessed the attack did nothing to stop the murder and many left by the next train. The police arrived only hours later, which forced the Madras High Court to say that Swathi’s body was left “lying like an exhibition”.
