
KOCHI: A 19-year-old woman who suffered serious injuries after being assaulted by her boyfriend succumbed to the injuries on Friday. The victim, a native of Chottanikkara in Ernakulam district, passed away at a private hospital in Kochi where she was admitted on Sunday evening.
"The patient was brought to the hospital with a severe head injury. As the patient was not conscious and was suffering from severe injuries, she was on ventilator support for the past four days. Her death was recorded at 2.30 pm on Friday," said the spokesperson of the hospital where she was undergoing treatment.
Police who registered a case for attempt to murder and rape will alter charges for murder against the victim's boyfriend Anoop, 25, a native of Thalayolaparambu.
Anoop has been remanded in custody since Thursday and is in Ernakulam district jail. "We will evoke murder charges under BNS section 103. A report in this regard will be filed before the court. After the arrest, we conducted evidence collection in the presence of the accused Anoop. Hence further custody of the accused is currently not required. The body of the deceased will be handed over to relatives after postmortem," V T Shajan, DYSP Puthencruz, said.
According to police, Anoop reached the house of the victim after consuming alcohol on January 25, night. He attacked the victim for not responding to his phone calls doubting that she was speaking to some other person. Later, he sexually harassed the victim. Then the victim threatened to die by suicide in front of Anoop. However, he did not dissuade her.
The victim made a knot using her shawl and hanged herself from the ceiling fan’s hook. During the suicide attempt, when the victim was struggling, Anoop cut the shawl using a knife. Subsequently, the victim fell on the floor and was struggling to breathe. Instead of giving any medical aid, Anoop smothered her to stop her from making any noise. Soon the victim fell unconscious and Anoop fled from the place.