KOCHI: Two separate murders of elderly women in Kothamangalam in 2021 and 2024 still remain a puzzle for the crime branch as their investigation has hit a dead-end now. The murder cases pertain to the death of Amina Abdul Kadhar, 66, in March 2021 and Saramma, 72, of Kallad near Kothamangalam, in March 2024.
Amina went to cut grass for her cattle near her house at Ariroorpadam in Kothamangalam in March 2021. She was found lying unconscious with injuries on her body in an open field near her residence. The ornaments she was wearing, including a 4.5 sovereign gold chain, four gold bangles weighing one sovereign each and 0.75 sovereign gold earrings were also found missing from her body.
Though she was rushed to the Kothamangalam Taluk Hospital, she was declared dead. The crime branch, which took over the probe, identified three suspects in the case. But, one of them died a few years ago. The other two suspects underwent a polygraph (lie-detection) test at a forensic facility in Gujarat. “However, both tests turned negative as we could not extract any information about the murder from the duo.
Currently, we are looking into the involvement of other persons who lived near the residence of Amina. However, no major evidence was received. The probe is yet to see a breakthrough. Our team is still working on the case,” an officer said.
Three years after the murder of Amina, 72-year-old Saramma was found hacked to death at her residence in Kallad near Kothamangalam in March 2024. As many as 48g of gold ornaments, including chains and bangles she was wearing, were missing. The murder occurred in broad daylight when she was alone at her residence.
“We interrogated over 100 people after taking over the investigation from police. The tower location analysis and phone data were collected. Over 50 CCTV cameras in the area were checked. However, the accused could not be identified yet. Some migrant workers who lived near the residence of Saramma were questioned. But it was found that they were not involved,” the officer said.
Though the crime branch is yet to get any evidence to assume that the same persons were involved in both murders, the officers are not ruling out the possibility.
“Amina was strangled and hit on the head with a heavy object. In Saramma’s case, she was hacked to death at her residence. Robbery was the common element in both cases. Similarly, the locality of both incidents also raised suspicion on whether the same accused was involved in both murders,” the officer said.