A woman was murdered by a man who underwent a sex change to marry her » Today Latest Stories

A software engineer was chained, dismembered and burnt alive on the eve of her birthday by a childhood classmate in Thalampur near Kelambakkam, southern suburbs of Chennai on Saturday, police said.

The victim, R Nandini, who would have been 26, was murdered by one of her schoolmates, who had undergone sex reassignment surgery to marry her.

Police have arrested Vetrimaran, an MBA graduate who before undergoing sex reassignment was Pandey Murugeshwari, for Nandini’s murder. They both studied in Madurai in the same girls’ school and also had a close friendship.

However, Nandini rejected Vetrimaran’s proposals despite his repeated persuasion, which led to her downfall. Even after all this, the two kept in touch, A.J Times of India The report said.

Eight months ago, after completing her bachelor’s degree in IT, Nandini got a job in Chennai and was staying with her uncle in the city.

Vetrimaaran called on Saturday and asked Nandini to spend some time with him. Reportedly, when the two met, the accused brought her new clothes and also took her to an orphanage near Tambaram and made a donation to her.

He insisted on taking her home and stopped at a deserted place in Ponmar on the way.

Vetrimaaran asked Nandini to pose for pictures in that deserted area. Then he took the chains off his bike and tied her hands and feet, while telling her it was for fun.

Later, he refused to release Nandini despite her pleas. He cut her neck and arms with a blade before dousing her with a bottle of petrol and setting her on fire.

Police said he fled the scene after committing the crime.

After some time, residents of the area found Nandini struggling to cling to her life and called the police. Before she fainted, she gave them Vetrimaaran’s number to call.

When the police called him, he went down to the crime scene and told them that Nandini was his friend. He even went with the police team and residents of the area while Nandini was being taken to the Khrumpet Government Hospital.

Nandini died of her injuries late on Saturday, but by then Vetrimaaran was gone.

He was tracked down and arrested by police on Sunday. One of the officers involved in the investigation said Vetrimaran showed no remorse for his actions and was calm.

In his statement to the police, he said that he was upset by Nandini’s refusal to have a relationship with him. Vetrimaaran had a sex reassignment surgery at a private hospital a few years ago, but Nandini told him that they had no future together.

Police said that she had recently become close to one of her colleagues, and that’s when Vetrimaaran decided to kill her.

The accused is in judicial custody and investigations are still ongoing.