Decomposed body of woman found wrapped in bag in Kochi, husband missing

KOCHI:  A Nepalese man has gone missing after the decomposed body of a woman was found wrapped in a plastic cover bag inside their rented home at Kadavanthra in Kochi. The body, which was found on Monday, after the house owner was informed of foul smell emanating from the house, is assumed to be older than five days.

The woman, Lakshmi, was aged around 40 years. However, the police are yet to verify the age of the deceased as they didn’t submit any address proof to the house owner. The woman was living with her husband, Ram Bahadur Bist, 46, who went missing after the incident. 

The preliminary inquiry suggested that she was strangled to death, but there were reports that the body was wrapped in a plastic bag with the throat slit. The police said this could be ascertained only after the postmortem examination. 

“The local councillor informed us about the foul smell coming from a rented house. When we arrived, we found the body wrapped in a plastic cover and a bed cloth inside a bedroom that was locked from outside. It is a clear case of murder and our prime suspect is the person who introduced her as her husband,” said Faisal M S, SHO South police station, where the case is registered.

The police said the couple was offering hair-fixing services at the rented house located on Raveendran Road, Elamkulam. “They had been staying here for the last one-and-a-half years. They introduced themselves to the house owner as Maharashtra natives. Since they didn’t provide any ID proof, we are not sure about their exact details. We need to investigate more to get further details,” said the officer.

The couple was living in a portion of the house. The house owner told the police that the couple used to engage in quarrels and she saw Lakshmi for the last time on October 20. “The house owner and nearby residents informed us that they hadn’t seen them for the last two-three days. Since the body was in a decomposed state, the murder might have happened on Thursday or Friday. We are awaiting the postmortem report to get the details of the death,” said the officer.

Meanwhile, the police also intensified the search for the husband. “We have already started checking the CCTV footage in the area. We hope we will be able to trace him soon,” the officer added. Meanwhile, Ram Bahadur is believed to have left the state. The police found that his phone had been switched off after October 21.

The police collected the details of those who communicated with him before he switched off the phone. A few of these persons were summoned to the crime scene and collected their statements. Ram Bahadur, who came to Kochi ten years ago, was working in barber shops and other places. He quit his job at a hair-fixing firm in Gandhinagar seven months ago and was involved in hair fixing and related work at the rented house. The inquest proceedings were completed on Tuesday and the body was shifted to the General Hospital for the autopsy.

KOCHI:  A Nepalese man has gone missing after the decomposed body of a woman was found wrapped in a plastic cover bag inside their rented home at Kadavanthra in Kochi. The body, which was found on Monday, after the house owner was informed of foul smell emanating from the house, is assumed to be older than five days. The woman, Lakshmi, was aged around 40 years. However, the police are yet to verify the age of the deceased as they didn’t submit any address proof to the house owner. The woman was living with her husband, Ram Bahadur Bist, 46, who went missing after the incident.  The preliminary inquiry suggested that she was strangled to death, but there were reports that the body was wrapped in a plastic bag with the throat slit. The police said this could be ascertained only after the postmortem examination.  “The local councillor informed us about the foul smell coming from a rented house. When we arrived, we found the body wrapped in a plastic cover and a bed cloth inside a bedroom that was locked from outside. It is a clear case of murder and our prime suspect is the person who introduced her as her husband,” said Faisal M S, SHO South police station, where the case is registered. The police said the couple was offering hair-fixing services at the rented house located on Raveendran Road, Elamkulam. “They had been staying here for the last one-and-a-half years. They introduced themselves to the house owner as Maharashtra natives. Since they didn’t provide any ID proof, we are not sure about their exact details. We need to investigate more to get further details,” said the officer. The couple was living in a portion of the house. The house owner told the police that the couple used to engage in quarrels and she saw Lakshmi for the last time on October 20. “The house owner and nearby residents informed us that they hadn’t seen them for the last two-three days. Since the body was in a decomposed state, the murder might have happened on Thursday or Friday. We are awaiting the postmortem report to get the details of the death,” said the officer. Meanwhile, the police also intensified the search for the husband. “We have already started checking the CCTV footage in the area. We hope we will be able to trace him soon,” the officer added. Meanwhile, Ram Bahadur is believed to have left the state. The police found that his phone had been switched off after October 21. The police collected the details of those who communicated with him before he switched off the phone. A few of these persons were summoned to the crime scene and collected their statements. Ram Bahadur, who came to Kochi ten years ago, was working in barber shops and other places. He quit his job at a hair-fixing firm in Gandhinagar seven months ago and was involved in hair fixing and related work at the rented house. The inquest proceedings were completed on Tuesday and the body was shifted to the General Hospital for the autopsy.