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COIMBATORE: A 35-year-old businessman murdered his wife for refusing to divorce him. The couple had parted ways three-and-a-half years ago. On Monday, he met her on the pretence of rekindling the marriage told his wife that he wanted to resume his life with her and asked her to meet with him. When she came to Coimbatore from Salem, where she had been residing with her parents, he took her to Ondipudur and stabbed her to death. Later, he surrendered before Singanallur police.

 The deceased is PS Jayasuvasini, 29, a native of Salem. Her estranged husband, VV Santhosh Kumar, 35, is an MBA graduate from Thanneerpandal in Peelamedu. The victim had fatal stab injuries on her neck and was declared as
 brought dead at CMCH. Santhosh Kumar was arrested by Singanallur police on Tuesday morning.

 According to police, Jayasuvasini, a graduate, married Santhosh Kumar on August 27, 2007 at a marriage hall on Avinashi Road near Peelamedu. Her family had spent more than RS30L on the wedding festivities apart from giving a huge sum as dowry to the groom’s family.

 Santhosh Kumar was involved in real estate business and did some building contract work too. Unable to get along with each other, Jayasuvasini was forced to return to her parents by her in-laws three years ago. Her husband too refused to live with her. He wanted a divorce but his wife was against it. The couple has a son Goutham and daughterKeerthi

 , both aged three-and-a-half years. On Monday, she received a phone call from Santhosh Kumar who told her that he wanted to live with her and advised her to come to Coimbatore immediately. She left for Coimbatore with her children at 8pm on Monday. When she reached the residence of her in-laws at Varatharajapuram, it was locked.

 Santhosh Kumar arrived there a bit later to pick up his family. He dropped off his children at a relative’s place. When he pleaded with her for a divorce, she insisted she wanted to live with him.

 "He had a knife, planning to kill her if she refused him a divorce. Deep stab injuries were found on her neck," said Durai Baskaran, assistant commissioner of police, law&order, East sub-division, Coimbatore city.

 While a few sources say that he surrendered before the Singanallur police after murdering his wife, police claim that Saravanampatti police inspector T Jothi was on night patrol when he noticed the car parked on the road side near Ondipudur railway over bridge at 3am on Tuesday. As he headed towards the car, Santhosh Kumar tried to escape. But inspector Jothi and his team managed to catch him with the help of a few motorists and locals.

 Singanallur police registered a case against Santhosh Kumar under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal code and seized the car and the knife. He was arrested and later sent to judicial custody.