A temple priest stabbed his mother to death inside court premises, following a property dispute, at Tenali on Monday.
The incident left the people numb with shock, so much so that the culprit managed to flee the court premises.
According to police, the victim was identified as Venkateswaramma, a resident of Gangammapeta in Tenali.
Her two sons, both priests at the Gangamma temple, had sold Venkateswaramma's agricultural land without her assent. When she objected to their act, they turned her away from her own house, and she was forced to take shelter in her daughter's house.
Venkateswaramma had filed a case hoping to get back her house at Nizampatnam, and for action taken against her sons for illegally selling her land.
She was in court on Monday following a hearing on the case.
Her second son, Gagaraju, allegedly accosted her in the court premises and before anyone could come to her aid, stabbed her repeatedly. She died on the spot.
Some eyewitnesses claim that both her sons were present during the stabbing incident.
Police have registered a case, and investigations are going on.