PATHANAMTHITTA: The Koodal police on Sunday arrested a 28-year-old man for chopping off his wife’s forearm and hacking his father-in-law. The arrested is Santhosh, of Ezhamkulam in Pathanamthitta. The injured are Vidya, 27, and her father, Vijayan Padmanabhan, 60, of Kalanjoor in Koodal.
Vidya’s left forearm and fingers on the right hand got severed in the attack that occurred on Saturday night.
“Vidya and Santhosh got married seven years ago. However, they lived together only for two years. After encountering family issues, Vidya moved to her house in Koodal. She had been staying there for the past five years. Their divorce petition is under consideration at the Pathanamthitta family court. The couple has a five-year-old son. The accused told the police that he committed the crime as his wife refused him the custody of their son,” a police officer said.
“Santhosh, who reached Vidya’s house on Saturday, hid in the backyard. He attacked Vidya and her father using a machetein the drawing room. Vidya suffered serious injuries on both hands, and Vijayan suffered injuries on his back. Though they were admitted to a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, Vidya was later shifted to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital where she underwent surgeries,” said Koodal police G Pushpakumar.
“Vidya’s left forearm got severed when she tried to resist the attack on her head. The accused then chopped off her fingers on the right hand. Vijayan was attacked when he tried to save his daughter. Santhosh fled the scene soon after the incident,” the officer said. Vidya’s relatives told the police that she left Santhosh’s home as he used to attack her frequently. The accused has been remanded to judicial custody by a local court.
T’Puram MCH docs reattach severed forearm
T’Puram: The doctors of Medical College Hospital (MCH), Thiruvananthapuram, on Sunday successfully performed a complicated surgery — that took eight hours — to stitch back Vidya’s forearm. Initially, Vidya’s relatives took her to a private hospital in the city. Vidya’s father Vijayan said after the preliminary tests at the hospital, the doctors said the surgery would cost more than D10 lakh and that there is no guarantee of its success. Then the office of Health Minister Veena George intervened and Vidya was taken to the emergency department of the MCH where the surgery was performed immediately. After the bones were fixed with a steel rod, a complicated surgery was performed to sew up the nerves, severed blood vessels and other micro-nerves.