Body of missing woman found buried, murder suspected

Police expand search for duo suspected of targeting woman for robbery

Subadhra

ALAPPUZHA/KOCHI : The body of a 73-year-old woman, who was reported missing from Kochi last month, was found buried on the premises of a rented house in Alappuzha on Tuesday.

It is suspected that the deceased, Subadhra, a resident of Kochi who went missing on August 4, was murdered.

They are on the lookout for the couple —Mathews alias Nithin of Kattoor in Alappuzha and Sharmila, a native of Udupi — who had been living in the rented house in Kalavoor. The search has been expanded to Karnataka as the duo’s last mobile tower location was detected in Mangaluru.

Police believe that the duo befriended Subadhra, who lived alone in her house near Kadavanthra, eyeing her cash and gold.

The suspected crime happened before August 9 as a CCTV visual showed the couple leaving the rented house near the Korthussery temple in Kalavoor in the early hours of that day.

“Subadhra used to carry gold ornaments while travelling. So, we suspect that the duo befriended her for cash and gold. The exact motive behind the crime can be ascertained only after the couple’s arrest,” said Alappuzha DySP M R Madhu Babu.

He said the elderly woman was a frequent visitor to pilgrim centres and temples in different parts of the state, and mostly travelled alone. Subadhra’s son Radhakrishnan told TNIE that he last saw his mother on August 3 when he visited her at her home on Karithala Road near Kadavanthra. “She did not complain about anything and looked happy,” he said.

However, she was not in the house on August 4. Since she used to go for temple visits, Radhakrishan, the youngest of her three sons, waited for three days and filed a missing person complaint at the Kadavanthra police station on August 7.

The police found her mobile phone was switched off under the Mannanchery police station limits, and found that she was spending time with a couple from Kalavoor. “The case was handed over to the Mannanchery police later,” the DySP said. 

‘CCTV visuals showed woman travelling with couple’

“The CCTV footage from near the rented house showed Subhadra travelling with the couple. We then examined the residential premises and found a recently dug pit in the house’s backyard. Later, we identified the daily wage worker who dug it,” Madhu said.

On interrogation, the worker said the couple asked him to dig the pit to dispose of waste.

Later, cadaver dog ‘Maya’ of the police dog squad was brought to examine the house premises. “The dog search identified some clues and we dug the pit and exhumed the body. The body is in a decomposed state. However, the woman’s son identified the body after seeing the clothes. Postmortem and other scientific examinations will be needed for the exact identification of the body,” the DySP said.

Mathews had married Sharmila after his divorce from his first marriage. After the marriage, he rented the house and they had been staying there for the past one-and-a-half years, said Prasad K S, a local resident.

“Mathews is a fisherman and at times, he used to work as a construction labourer,” Prasad said.

Police suspect that Subhadra frequently visited Korthussery and stayed along with the couple. They also visited the house of Subhadra in Kadavanthra.