COIMBATORE: A 22-year-old labourer was murdered with deadly weapons by two youths, including a teenager, at Sikkalampalayam in Coimbatore district in the early hours of Thursday. The suspects recorded themselves assaulting the labourer with a hammer and took a few photos, including their selfies with the dead body, and shared the video and photos on a social media platform before fleeing the scene.The murdered has been identified as S Ashwin of Kamaraj Colony in Solavampalayam near Kinathukkadavu. According to police, Ashwin returned from work on Wednesday evening and met his friend Vishnu, 19. He stayed at Vishnu’s house at Sikkalampalayam.Around 1am on Thursday, two suspects barged into the house and locked themselves inside the room where Ashwin was sleeping alone. They stabbed and hacked Ashwin with a knife and a sickle. Then they assaulted him with a hammer. They recorded the act on a mobile phone and took photos of the body and selfies with it. In one selfie, they appeared holding the weapons in their mouths. They shared the video and photos on a social media platform.The incident came to light after the video was circulated widely in social media. Residents alerted the Kinathukkadavu police, who retrieved the body and sent it for postmortem.Police have identified the suspects from the video and the selfies. While one of them has been identified as Mathesh, 21, the other is a 16-year-old boy from Sikkalampalayam. Police recovered the weapons, registered a case and began investigations.Coimbatore district superintendent of police A Pavan Kumar said Ashwin and the suspects had known each other as they were from neighbouring villages in Solavampalayam panchayat. “A few months ago, Ashwin had warned them against consuming liquor and advised them to go for work, which might have triggered the killing. Six special teams have been formed to nab the two suspects,” the SP said.
