Missing woman found dead, suicide suspected

Thiruvananthapuram: The body of a Secretariat employee who went missing on Friday was fished out of Vamanapuram river near Ayanthikadavu on Saturday.
Ila Divakar, 49, of Ottaplamukku near Valiyakada under Chirayinkeezh police station limits is the deceased. Police suspect it to be a case of suicide.
According to police, Ila Divakar, who worked as an under-secretary at records section at Secretariat, was reported missing from her residence since Friday morning. She was a widow and survived by two daughters, Bhavya and Athena.
Chirayinkeezh police had registered a case after receiving a formal complaint from her niece. Soon, police found Ila’s scooter parked near Vamanapuram river at Ayanthikkadavu. Since the family had told police that she had displayed suicidal tendencies in the past, police launched a search in the river with the help of fire and rescue services personnel. The scuba-diving team of the fire department too were summoned to search for her.
“The body was found around 3.45pm from a spot that is around 1.5 kilometre downstream from the spot where her scooter was found,’’ said Chirayinkeezh sub-inspector V S Vineesh.
The SI said as per the statement of her family members, Ila was suffering from mental illness for nearly a decade. She was under treatment for depression. Her husband, Laiju, who was an employee of KSEB, had died around 10 years ago, succumbing to cancer. It was after that she fell into depression. Though she was under treatment, she was often reluctant to take the medicines, her family members told police.
“Her family members also said she had attempted suicide once in the past too by hanging,’’ the SI said. She was last seen by her domestic help. Around 5.30am on Friday, the domestic help reached the house and it was Ila who opened the door for her. Around two hours later, her daughters woke up and could not find her anywhere. The body was shifted to mortuary after inquest. There were no unnatural injuries found on the body during the inquest. A postmortem will be held on Sunday.