Three held for murder of woman

Thiruvananthapuram: Police have confirmed the death of Baby, a 58-year-old woman, whose body was found under suspicious circumstances in her residence at Kathippara near Vellarada on June 22, as a murder for gain. The police have arrested three persons, including a woman, in connection with the case.
The accused are Mini, 42, of Parasuvakkal, Abhijith, 23, of Kunnathukal and Sivakumar, 19, of Perumkadavila. Among the accused, Mini and Abhijith were lovers and Sivakumar was a friend of Mini’s son. According to the police, three of them planned and committed the crime to raise money to buy new motorcycles for Sivakumar and Mini’s son.

According to Neyyatinkara DSP B Harikumar, victim Baby and Mini, who is the main accused in the case, were allegedly involved in sex work. They also worked as volunteers of AIDS Control Society in Vellarada region. Their friendship grew after Baby gave Mini and Abhijith shelter in her house for over a month after the two got into a relationship.

“Baby had the habit of wearing a lot of gold ornaments and it was why the accused decided to target her when they needed money,” the DSP said.

The accused committed the crime on June 20. They arrived at Vellarada in a bus following which Abhijith and Sivakumar proceeded to Baby’s residence. As they were talking, Abhijith strangulated her using a plastic cable while Sivakumar smothered her face to prevent her from screaming. They then left her body in the bedroom, locked it from outside and decamped with gold ornaments and cash in the house.

Baby lived alone and her body was found by her daughter on June 22. The neighbours alleged that it could be murder because they knew about the wayward lifestyle of the deceased. They suspected that it could be any of her clients that committed the crime. A probe into people, who regularly visited the house led the police to Mini and her accomplices.

The accused were arrested by a team led by Vellarada circle inspector G Ajithkumar and sub-inspector Satheesh kumar.

The accused were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.