Tamil Nadu: Deaf Man Murdered and Body Found in Water Tank
A 26-year-old Deaf man from Tamil Nadu, who went missing in Chennai, was later found murdered by his co-worker over a personal dispute.
A 26-year-old Deaf man from Tenkasi district in Tamil Nadu was found murdered more than two months after he went missing in Chennai.
Mahendran had moved to Chennai for work and was employed at a garment and textile warehouse in Madhavaram. He was staying there for his job. In early December 2025, he suddenly stopped contacting his family. He did not return home, and his phone was not reachable, which worried his family.
After waiting for nearly 20 days, his family filed a missing person complaint at the Puzhal police station on 26 December 2025. However, there was little progress in the case. As Mahendran remained missing for over two months, one of his relatives approached the Madras High Court seeking urgent action.
Following the court’s direction, the police formed a special team led by Assistant Commissioner Shibu Kumar to investigate the case. During the inquiry, police questioned Mahendran’s co-workers, including a Deaf colleague named Lawrence.
Police examined mobile phone records and found that Mahendran’s phone and Lawrence’s phone were located at the same place around the time he disappeared. They also found that Lawrence’s friend, Vaidyanathan, had used Lawrence’s phone to speak to Mahendran. This raised suspicion.
With the help of sign language interpreters, police questioned Lawrence again. During interrogation, he confessed that Mahendran had been murdered.
According to the police, on 6 December 2025, Lawrence and Vaidyanathan told Mahendran that they would help him change the address on his Aadhaar card. Mahendran went with them to Putlur village in Tiruvallur district. The three men reportedly drank alcohol together.
Police said that when Mahendran was heavily intoxicated, Lawrence and Vaidyanathan strangled him with a belt and killed him. They then tied his body with a rope and dumped it inside a septic tank near Lawrence’s house to hide the crime.
Based on the confession, police recovered Mahendran’s body from the septic tank. The body was sent to Tiruvallur Government Hospital for post-mortem examination.
Police said the motive behind the murder was personal. Lawrence suspected that Mahendran was having an affair with his wife, who is also Deaf. Mahendran often visited Lawrence’s house, and Lawrence had warned him earlier to stay away.
Lawrence and Vaidyanathan have been arrested and are currently in judicial custody. What started as a missing person complaint has now turned into a murder case, revealing that Mahendran was killed on the same day he went missing.
