THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The trial has concluded for the 2022 Peroorkada murder case, in which Vineetha, an employee at a nursery, was murdered. The court will announce its verdict on April 10. The prosecution relied entirely on scientific and circumstantial evidence, as there were no direct eyewitnesses in the case. Of the 118 listed witnesses, 96 were examined. The prosecution submitted CCTV footage stored in 12 pen drives and seven DVDs, along with 222 documents, to establish the movements of the accused.
Rajendran, a native of Rajiv Nagar, Thovalai in Kanyakumari, murdered Vineetha on February 6, 2022, around 11.50 am to steal her four-and-a-half sovereign gold chain. He had previously killed Tamil Nadu customs officer Subbayyan, his wife Vasanthi, and their 13-year-old foster daughter Abhishree in a similar manner and stolen their gold and cash. After securing bail in that case, he had moved to Peroorkada and was working as a hotel employee before targeting Vineetha.
On the day of the crime, Vineetha was watering plants when Rajendran entered the nursery pretending to be a customer. As she showed him the plants, he grabbed her from behind and fatally stabbed her throat and ensured she could not scream.
Rajendran went into hiding at a lodge near Kavalkinaru in Tamil Nadu after the crime. A special police team arrested him on February 11. The stolen gold chain was later recovered from a private financial institution where he had pledged it.
The investigation was conducted under the supervision of the then-Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner Sparjan Kumar, alongside officers from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The chargesheet was later amended to include unlawful trespass into Vineetha’s workplace, following an intervention by Special Public Prosecutor M Salahudeen.