A 41-year-old man was arrested in connection with the murder of his wife eight years ago by the Crime Branch in Kerala’s Kollam district.
Abdul Shihab, a resident of Thevalakkara in the district, allegedly pushed his wife Shajeera, 30, into the Sasthamcotta Lake on June 17, 2015, which led to her death after three days.
Shajeera, a native of Punalur was the second wife of Shihab and they got married seven months before the incident.
According to police, ever since their marriage, Shihab subjected Shajeera to mental harassment and would often belittle her for her complexion. “He allegedly made derogatory comments often. He used to say that he received a white Maruti car as dowry and a dark-skinned wife,” Kollam Crime Branch SP N Rajan told reporters.
According to [olice, on June 15, 2015, Shihab took Shajeera to Munroe Island, some 20 km away from their native on a motorcycle on the pretext of buying fish. After three hours, around 6.30 pm, they returned to a place called Kallummoottil boat jetty in Sasthamcotta without buying fish. However, instead of going home, Shihab stayed at the place for more than an hour saying he had a headache. Later, he allegedly pushed Shajeera into the lake.
Shajeera was admitted to a private hospital in Sasthamcotta after being rescued by local residents. She remained unconscious and died three days later. However, the police could not take her statement as it had launched a probe based on a complaint by her family. With the police making little progress in the case, the probe was handed over to the Kollam Crime Branch in 2017.