KALPETTA: The mysterious death of a 28-year-old Adivasi woman whose body was found in the middle of a paddy field at Kurukkanmoola near Kuruva Dweep in Mananthavady last Monday has triggered allegations of a powerful mafia that traps tribal women and forcing them into illegal activities.
While the police arrested one suspect within 48 hours, Kurukkanmoola village action council members claim that more culprits remain off the hook.
Sobha was reported missing last Sunday and was found dead in Kalappura Jinu Joseph’s paddy field around 8.30am the next day by tillers.
The Mananthavady police team led by CI Abdul Kareem M M found the death was because of a electric shock.
The postmortem report from Kozhikode Medical College Hospital also corroborated it. Initially, the probe team was puzzled as to what caused the electric shock as there were no signs of any live wire in sight.
During investigation, the team came to know there was an illegal electric fence around the field.
Following the clues, the police arrested Jinu Joseph, 44, on Wednesday night and booked him for culpable homicide. According to the police, the suspect, on finding Sobha’s body in the field, removed all traces of the illegal fence from the field in the early hours of Monday itself. The fencing materials that were hidden by him were also retrieved. The police then charged him also with Section 201 of IPC for tampering with evidence.Sobha, a single parent, is survived by two sons aged 14 and 12.
Jacob Sebastian, councillor of ward 12 of Mananthavady municipality and chairman of the Kurukkanmoola Grama Sabha Action Council told TNIE that there are many unsolved mysteries in the case.
“Sobha got a phone call around 10pm when she was watching TV with her mother Ammini. She quietly went out, never to return again. Adivasi colony members found an unclaimed phone at a home that stands across the colony. They also found blood drops behind the house.
Some of them said they had heard a commotion of vehicles as well as a woman’s shriek that night. Besides, there is no pathway or access to the place where the body was found. All these add to the suspicion,” he said. A colony resident told TNIE that thebody bore injury marks, and that the woman had been sexually exploited by certain people for the past 11 years. It is precisely due to this reason that her husband had deserted her, the resident said.
“There is a powerful mafia that traps vulnerable Adivasi women into illegal activities here,” added Jacob. He said the tribal residents of the colony had held back the memory card of the unclaimed phone they retrieved while searching for Sobha. They handed it over to the police.
CI Abdul Kareem told TNIE. “We have cracked the electrocution mystery in less than 48 hours. The detailed autopsy report will give more clarity on the causes of death. The investigation surrounding Sobha’s mobile phone details is ongoing.,” he said.