A 25-year-old man and his girlfriend were arrested by Kilpennathur police in Tiruvannamalai for strangling a woman to death to steal four sovereigns of gold jewellery from her.

Police said the arrested persons were S. Tirupathi, 25, and his girlfriend K. Nerthra, 30. They were residents of Kollakotta and Kalikulam villages near Tiruvannamalai respectively. Initial inquiry revealed that the victim S. Amsha, 26, a resident of Kalikulam village, and Nethra’s friend were on their way to Government Medical College Hospital in Tiruvannamalai town on October 15 for a general checkup for her son. 

Police said that, along with her son, Amsha was waiting for a bus near Avalurpet railway level crossing when Nertha and her boyfriend Tirupathi stopped her and offered to drop her at the hospital in their autorickshaw. Amsha trusted the duo and got into the autorickshaw along with her son. The duo kidnapped Amsha to Tirupathi’s house in Vengaikaal village on the outskirts of Tiruvannamalai town. They demanded Amsha to give her gold jewellery. As she refused, the duo strangled her to death.

Police said that the duo dumped the body in a sugarcane field on the Cuddalore-Chittoor Highway. They also left the boy on the stretch before they fled the spot. Residents saw the boy and alerted the Kilpennathur police, who nabbed the suspects after analysing CCTV cameras on the route. The duo was arrested and lodged at Central Prison in Vellore. A case was registered and further probe is under way.

Published – November 09, 2025 11:39 pm IST