Chennai: The mother-of-two who had murdered her children and attempted to kill her husband to elope with her paramour was arrested at Nagercoil and brought back to Chennai on Sunday by the Kundrathur police, who reportedly used the paramour’s phone number to draw her in.

Both the woman and her lover — a biriyani shop worker — were sent into judicial custody after being presented before the Saidapet Magistrate court.





According to her confession, Abirami (25) had given both the children - Ajay (6), Karunika (4) - and husband Vijayakumar (30), milk spiked with sleeping pills on Thursday night after celebrating Vijay’s birthday. It is believed that the young girl died on the same night, as Abirami did not allow Vijay to meet the child on Friday morning, when he wanted to kiss her before leaving for office.

She had reportedly told him not to disturb the child as she was ‘sleeping’. However, the dose reportedly did not have an effect on Ajay and Vijay. Abirami gave the son another heavy dose of sedatives on Friday night and had planned to do the same to Vijay after he returned from work.

However, Vijay, who worked in the loans department in a T Nagar-based private bank, was held back at the office on Friday night due to month-end closing activities. When he returned home on Saturday morning, he found both the children dead with foam around their mouths and his wife missing. His cries of horrified anguish brought the neighbours rushing in to enquire and the police was informed.

Vijay told the police that he suspected that the illicit relationship his wife had developed with the biriyani shop worker Sundaram could be the reason behind the gruesome double-murder. He revealed that after he pulled her up over the affair, Abirami had left the family to move in with Sundaram and he brought her back after much pleading. Things seemed to be settling down in the family but it appeared that the lovers had other plans.

Police quickly picked up Sundaram, 23, working as a cashier at the nearby biriyani shop. He led them to Abirami’s two-wheeler, which she had left at the parking lot of Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) after boarding the bus to Nagercoil. The duo had planned to go to Thiruvananthapuram via Nagercoil to ‘start life afresh’. CCTV footage at the bus terminal showed Abirami riding in on her Scooti with face covered with her duppatta.

Knowing that Abirami was waiting at Nagercoil, the police took Sundaram there on Saturday and called her from his phone number, asking her to meet him at a spot in the town. She was nabbed when she came for her lover.

Abirami and Sundaram were remanded to judicial custody on Sunday. Post-mortem was conducted on the bodies of both the kids at the Government Chrompet hospital. The funeral was held on Saturday night.