Kochi man who killed wife stitched story of her ‘illicit relation’

KOCHI: Sajeevan Vishwambharan, who was arrested for murdering his wife, had used the cover of the latter’s ‘illicit relationship’, which he fabricated, to evade suspicion for over a year. His clever story managed to convince friends and neighbours that his wife, 32-year-old Remya, had indeed eloped with her paramour. Vishwambharan also destroyed key evidence to prevent any probe from ever reaching him.

Since the 45-year-old man had no criminal background, the police did not suspect him when they received the missing person complaint. In fact, there was not even a shard of evidence against him. Vishwambharan is a painting worker.

What helped trap Vishwambharan was, interestingly enough, the very missing person complaint that he had filed. A reprobe of the 2021 case led to further interrogations. Glaring contradictions in Vishwambharan’s statements had seen him under the police scanner for a while. He was finally arrested on Thursday.

“Vishwambharan committed the crime over suspicions that his wife was having an illicit affair,” Ernakulam Rural SP Vivek Kumar said.

“He has confessed that he burnt the rope tied to the woman’s neck after strangulating her. He will be subjected to further questioning after taking him into police custody,” the officer added. Vishwambharan is currently in judicial custody. The murder was committed on August 16, 2021. Remya’s body was buried in the premises of their rented house at Vachakkal West. The duo tied the knot 17 years ago following an affair.