THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Dr P Rema, former head of the forensic department at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, whose finding proved crucial in the Sr Abhaya murder case, died on Friday. The 61-year-old had been facing health problems. She is the wife of actor Jagadish. The couple has two daughters Dr Ramya (professor, Government Medical College, Nagercoil) and Dr Soumya (psychiatrist). Dr Narendran Nayyar and Dr Praveen Panicker are her sons-in-law.
An ace forensic surgeon, Rema’s expertise helped convict Sr Sephy in the Sr Abhaya murder case when a CBI court began the trial in 2019. It was Rema, then police surgeon in Alappuzha Medical College, who found that Sr Sephy had undergone surgery (hymenoplasty) in a bid to prove that she was a virgin. The finding proved crucial.
“Dr Rema agreed to be a prosecution witness when the trial started in 2019 despite ill health. The court appointed a magistrate to collect her statement from home as her health deteriorated,” said activist Jomon Puthenpurackal, the main litigant in the murder case. The last rites of Dr Rema were held at the Santhikavadam public crematorium at Thycaud here in the evening.