KOLLAM: Nearly six months after Uthra died of a bite by a snake allegedly let loose by her husband in Anchal, Kollam Rural police solved the mystery behind another woman’s death which her husband had tried to pass off as an accident. Twenty-nine-year-old Asha succumbed to the internal injuries allegedly inflicted by her husband, Arun, 36, who was arrested from his house in Odanavattom on Monday.
Hours before she breathed her last at the hospital on November 4, Asha had told her parents, “It wasn’t the goat that hit me.” She was hospitalised in a critical condition at the private medical college hospital at Meeyannoor. Arun had said that Asha had fallen from a rock after their goat knocked her down when she took it there for grazing. Her last words uttered in excruciating pain haunted her parents, George and Shobha, both natives of Karikkom. That is why they did not believe her husband’s version. Eventually, a complaint was lodged with the Pooyappally police and an investigation was launched.
“She never told us that she had issues in her marriage. Even in her death bed, she didn’t speak a word against her husband. Asha always wanted her husband and children to be safe,” said George. “If she had informed us about her situation earlier, Asha would have still been alive,” he added. Arun, who is an alcoholic, would often pick up quarrels at home and used to beat Asha up.
Their two sons aged eight and four years and Arun’s mother also live in the house. Neighbours started not paying attention as the quarrels became frequent. Arun was not close to his relatives and friends. To whoever came to their house after the incident, the children would tell them that their mother died after being hit by a goat, as taught by their father.
According to the police, Arun, who was drunk, got into a fight with Asha on October 31. Asha fainted on the spot after Arun kicked her in the stomach. She was taken to Kottarakkara Taluk Hospital on November 2 and later to Kollam District Hospital. As her condition deteriorated, she was shifted to the medical college hospital at Meeyannoor and died there. Arun had told the hospital authorities also that the goat had knocked her down, said the police.
When the couple’s two children and Arun’s mother were questioned, the police noticed discrepancies in their versions and a postmortem examination was conducted on the police’s instructions. The police concluded that falling from the rock could cause external injuries. The postmortem revealed seven wounds on Asha’s body, most of which had healed. The doctors confirmed that the cause of death was abdominal injuries. A team comprising DySP M A Nazir and led by Rural SP Elango investigated the case.