KOCHI: The body of a 44-year-old man with his hands and legs tied with a plastic rope was found near the bank of the Periyar near Aluva Manappuram on Thursday. Hareesh, a native of Karingam Thuruthu at Alangode, went missing on Monday. According to the police, local residents spotted his body in the river, but near the bank, in the morning.
Though the police initially suspected murder, circumstantial evidence suggested that the man had died by suicide. “Since the body of Hareesh was found with his hands and legs tied with a plastic rope, we thought it was a murder. But the preliminary investigation showed that it was a case of suicide.
Before leaving his home, the victim had put his mobile phone on flight mode and kept it there itself. He had purchased a nylon ribbon and a feather blade from a supermarket near Varapuzha. Moreover, we couldn’t find any bruises on his body. Since he knew swimming, he himself must have tied his hands and legs before jumping into the river,” said an officer who is part of the probe team.
Hareesh, a head load worker at a beverage outlet, had informed his wife that he was suffering from depression. “His brother, father and sister had died by suicide a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to have any sound reason to do so. In this case too, we suspect depression might have been the reason,” said the officer. However, a conclusion can only be made based on the autopsy report.