On the eve of her birthday, a 24-year-old software engineer in Tamil Nadu was chained, slashed with a blade and burnt alive by her former classmate who had undergone a sex change operation to marry her, police said. The disturbing incident unfolded in Thalambur near Kelambakkam, a quiet southern suburb of Chennai. According to police reports, 26-year-old Vetrimaran alias Pandi Maheswari, under the guise of a birthday surprise, blindfolded 24-year-old R Nandhini and subjected her to an unimaginable ordeal involving chains and petrol.