KOCHI: It looked like a clear case of attempted suicide. As it turned out, Sreekanth Menon had allegedly fabricated all the evidence that had the Canadian police hoodwinked. But the CBI refused to fall for his shenanigans. And the investigative agency unravelled a brutal attempt to murder his wife.
On the night of January 17, he was cornered in New Delhi while boarding a flight for Canada. After five days of interrogation, he was remanded to judicial custody. He is now lodged in Kakkanad District Jail.
A native of Kodungallur, Sreekanth had attempted to kill his wife Sruthy Suresh, from Chottanikkara. by staging a ‘car accident’ while on a visit to Mexico for their first wedding anniversary, the investigation found. Despite failing to carry out the plan, his physical and sexual torture continued.
He allegedly demanded Rs 24.15 lakh from her parents which they arranged after pledging their house. Sreekanth, who worked as a banquet supervisor, also attempted to convince Sruthy’s parents of her suicidal tendencies. She even attempted to jump from their apartment in Canada, he had told them. However, in a statement to Chottanikkara police, after the couple returned to Kerala, Sruthy said her husband force fed her toilet cleaner that damaged her internal organs.
This also affected her speech. Her subsequent statements to the police were made in writing. A case was registered at Chottanikkara station in December 2020 on charges of matrimonial cruelty and causing miscarriage without consent. Her father Suresh approached the Kerala High Court, which had ordered the CBI inquiry.
Sruthy married Sreekanth on September 7, 2018. The couple moved to Calgary, Canada, in April 2019. Sreekanth pledged 75.5 sovereigns of gold gifted by her parents for their marriage for the payment of the insurance of his luxury car. She alleged that Sreekanth harassed her under the influence of drugs.
In the complaint, Sruthy alleged that she was drugged several times and compelled to seek money from her parents. In August 2019, she was allegedly threatened and taken to a clinic using force. She consequently suffered a miscarriage.
While undergoing treatment in Canada for damages to her organs, the accused allegedly acquired the pledged ornaments with the 12,000 Canadian dollars the government had paid her in compensation for her job loss during Covid. In December 2020, both returned to Kerala. Sruthy was admitted to a hospital and the couple never met again.