A 60-year-old junior artiste Athilakshmi, who had acted in movies of yesteryear, was found dead at her home in Kodambakkam and her body was found in a decomposed state. The police have sent it for postmortem to the Royapettah GH, on Monday evening.

After Athilakshmi’s neighbors complained to the police that she was staying alone in her house in Kodambakkam and had not stepped out for the past three days, the cops arrived.

On arrival, police found the door locked from inside and broke open the lock and went into the house, where they found her lying on the bed, with injuries to her head. Also, her body was in a decomposed state. Athilakshmi’s husband Gopalkrishnan had died a few years ago. Her son Prakash (40) is settled in the USA, while her daughter Anita (30) resides in Teynampet.

Anita had said in her complaint that gold jewellery and a handbag were missing from her mother’s house. Athilakshmi’s niece, Jothi, who lives in Ponneri had visited her last Friday, police said.

Police suspect that a murder for gain could have been committed.