Chennai Police register case of unnatural death

Chennai: Veteran playback singer Vani Jayaram, with more than 10,000 songs to her credit in 19 languages, was found dead at her house on Haddows Road in Nungambakkam, Chennai on Saturday, less than 10 days after being chosen for Padma Bhushan award. She was 78. She was living alone after the passing away of her husband Jayaram in 2018.

A maidservant, who used to do daily chores at her residence, arrived at her home at 11 am and even after repeated ringing of the bell, there was no response from inside. She immediately alerted Vani Jayaram’s sister Uma and Police were also informed. Police broke open the door in the presence of Vani Jayaram’s relatives and found her dead on the floor of her bedroom with bruises on her forehead. The body was later shifted to a hospital for further examination and post-mortem.

It is suspected that she slipped and banged her head against a table. While more medical details are awaited, forensic experts inspected her house in the evening. A case has been registered under Section 174 (unnatural death) of CrPC and investigation is underway.

Vani Jayaram was born as Kalaivani at Vellore in Tamil Nadu on Nov. 30, 1945. She worked in State Bank of India for sometime and was married to Jayaram. It was her husband who convinced her to pursue a career in music. Vani Jayaram started her career as a playback singer in Marathi cinema, but later made her debut in Hindi and all South Indian film industries. She won the National Film Award for Best Singer thrice and was chosen for Padma Bhushan award this year.