Teen kills wall painter, 50, in drunken brawl, held

COIMBATORE: A 19-year-old teen was arrested on Sunday afternoon for murdering a 50-year-old man by smashing his head with a stone in a drunken brawl at Veerapandi Pirivu on Saturday night.

According to the Periyanaickenpalayam police, C Maridurai, a native of Tenkasi district, was found murdered in front of a Tasmac shop at Veerapandi Pirivu around 6am on Sunday. He was a wall painter.

An alcoholic, a police officer said, Maridurai often slept on the pavements or in front of some shops at Veerapandi Pirivu and adjacent areas. “He was in the habit of picking up fights with others under the influence of alcohol. He had stopped the highway police patrol vehicles thrice in the locality and quarrelled with them.”

On Saturday around 11.30pm, the officer said, Maridurai picked up a fight with a teen near the Tasmac outlet. “Passersby found his body in the morning and alerted us. A stone with blood stains was found at the crime scene. We sent body to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital for postmortem.”

He said they zeroed in on the murderer with the help of CCTV footage. The officer identified the preparator as V Sakthivel, a construction worker from Thirumalainaickenpalayam near Jothipuram.

“Sakthivel was also drunk. During the brawl, he grabbed a stone and hit Maridurai on his head several times. While he left for home later, he was not aware Maridurai had succumbed to his head injuries. We have registered a murder case against Sakthivel,” the officer said. On Sunday evening, Sakthivel was produced before a judicial magistrate, who remanded him in judicial custody.