KOCHI: In a gruesome incident, a 60-year old woman - staying along with her 30-year-old mentally challenged son - was found murdered at her house in front of Puthenvelikkara panchayat office on Monday morning. The deceased is identified as Moly, wife of late Davis of Palatti House, Puthenvelikkara. Nearly four hours after the incident, the police took 28-year-old Assam native Munna, a tenant living within the Palatti compound, into custody on grounds of suspicion. Around 7.30 am, Moly’s neighbour Nalini spotted the dead body lying inside the house.
“I went to their house after Moly didn’t respond to her mentally-challenged son Deny’s call to go to the church. When I reached the room, it was locked from the outside. Deny managed to find the key and when I opened the room, the scene was shocking. She was lying on the floor in a half-naked state, still bleeding,” said Nalini who informed the police. The police said, blood stains were also found inside a bedroom adjacent to the room where she was found dead.
“There is a chance the murder had taken place in the adjacent room and the body might have been dragged to the other room. The preliminary investigation found it a clear case of murder as the deceased has suffered deep injuries to her head.
However, we are yet to reach a conclusion,” said an officer. Fingerprint experts and dog squad have reached the spot. According to the local people, Moly and her son had been living in a two-storied house after her husband passed away nearly three years ago.
She also rented out some rooms and the nearby building to the workers, including migrant workers. “The accused Munna had maintained a good relationship with the family.
When we questioned them, the other migrant workers also said some sounds were heard around 1.30 am. Based on certain evidence, we took him into custody,” said the police.The police said a rape attempt is yet to be established in the case. “Only after getting the postmortem report can we say if there was a rape attempt,” said an officer. Rural SP A V George, who reached the spot, said a final picture is expected to emerge once forensic and fingerprint experts’ reports are received.