A quarrel between a drunk husband and his wife that was mistaken for abusing the neigbhours led to relatives fatally assaulting the man at Kalligudi on Sunday evening.
Police said that K. Jeyaram, 49, of Maiyittanpatti, under the influence of alcohol, had picked up quarrel with his wife, J. Athilakshmi. When he was abusing her, his neighbour D. Thangapandi, 40, and his family members, who are his relatives, shouted at him under the impression that his abyse was only directed at them. Jeyaram, who came out of the house, told them that it was a domestic quarrel.
But Thangapandi and his wife Vijayalakshmi, his son, Pandiarajan and daughter, Rajalakshmi, attacked him with a log.
Jeyaram, who suffered head injuries, was rushed to the Government Hospital in Tirumangalam where the doctor declared him brought dead.
Kalligudi police have arrested Thangapandi and his wife.
