Man held for cutting elderly woman’s ear to steal gold earrings

A 39-year-old man was arrested by Ranipet SIPCOT police at Agravaram village near Ranipet town on Thursday for cutting a 70-year-old woman’s ear to steal her gold earrings.

Police said the arrested person was identified as S. Vinod Kumar, a local. He was married and was living with his wife and son in the same village for many years. As he was unable to find work, police said that Kumar got addicted to liquor.

Initial inquiry revealed that the victim, M. Salammal, was living alone in her house, with her children residing a few streets away in the same village. She goes to work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme in the village.

Police said Salammal was sleeping in her house when Kumar tried to remove her earrings, which weigh around 0.25 grams. As she resisted his attempt, police said that Kumar cut her earlobes to steal the gold ornaments. The incident occurred around 1 a.m.

As she cried out in pain, neighbours rushed to her house and found her in a pool of blood. Based on an alert, Ranipet SIPCOT police admitted her to the Government Medical College Hospital in Vellore, and a case was registered.

Police said a special team collected basic details of the suspect from the victim, and analysed the CCTV footage from local TASMAC outlets. They found Kumar loitering near a TASMAC outlet in the village. Police nabbed him, and he confessed that he robbed the jewellery for money. Police recovered the lost earrings from him. He was lodged at Central Prison in Vellore.