KOZHIKODE: After nearly a week of uncertainty, the Perambra police have found that the 26-year-old woman whose body was recovered from a stream near the Nochad primary health centre was in fact murdered.
The breakthrough came after the police arrested Mujeeb Rahman, a habitual offender and thief, from Vazhakkad in Malappuram for the crime.
The body of Anu Prajil, daughter of Vasu of Valoor near Perambra, was found in the stream on March 12. Though the police initially felt it was a case of suicide, they intensified their probe after her relatives said Anu’s gold ornaments were missing and that there was not enough water in the stream for a person to drown.
Mujeeb, a Kondotty resident who is involved in around 55 cases, including an attempt to rape, was nabbed on Saturday. The police said Mujeeb drowned Anu in the stream and looted her ornaments. Another Kondotty resident, Aboobacker, who helped Mujeeb sell the ornaments, has also been arrested.
As per the police, Anu left her parents’ house at Valoor to go to a hospital on March 11. Her husband, Iringannur native Prajil Raj, was supposed to pick her up at Muliyangal on the way.
“Mujeeb is known to offer lift to women and snatch their chains. On the morning of March 11, he was fleeing on a motorcycle he stole from Mattanur when he spotted Anu on the way. He approached her, spoke to her and offered a lift to the next junction,” said Perambra DySP K M Biju. He said the victim and the accused did not know each other.
“Later, Mujeeb took Anu to the stream and drowned her. He looted her jewellery and fled,” Biju said.
Anu and Prajil got married a year ago. She had recently gone to her parents’ house as her mother had underwent surgery. Prajil went to Muliyangal to pick her up but Anu never arrived. The relatives lodged a missing complaint when Anu did not reach home by evening.
While searching for her, the police found a body from the stream the next day, March 12. Anu’s relatives identified the body, but her mother Saraswathy said though Anu’s earring was found on the body, her necklace, two rings, bracelet and anklets were missing. The police later recovered Anu’s phone and purse from a ditch near the stream.
The investigation
The postmortem examination concluded that mud and water entered Anu’s lungs, causing her death. Later, the forensic surgeon from Kozhikode Medical College Hospital inspected the place where Anu’s body was found. The police checked CCTV footage, one of which showed Anu on a motorcycle with a man. A probe focusing on the motorbike and analysing more CCTV footage led the police to the vehicle theft case in Mattanur, and finally to Mujeeb.