Thiruvananthapuram – After 9 years, the woman’s death was found to be a homicide. The criminal branch arrested her husband Ratheesh in the murder of Aswathi, a native of Nemam. The murder came to light during the investigation conducted by Crime Branch SP Madhusudan.
According to the investigators, the Aswathi murder case is similar to the accused case of Ptikittapulli Sukumarakurup. While the body of film representative Chacko was burned, the hand of Kurup’s cousin Bhaskarapillai was also burned. The turning point in the case was when Bhaskarapillai gave different answers when asked about the burn.
The burn on Aswathi’s husband’s hand led to Nemat’s case. It was a love match between Ashwati and Ratheesh. They have two children aged two years and three months. Aswathi lived with her maternal grandmother, whose mother had died. Since Ratheesh is a regular alcoholic, he didn’t write down the 3 cents of land in his grandmother’s name.
When family quarrel became common, Ashwati’s grandmother moved to her relative’s house. When the children were home, Ratheesh poured kerosene on Ashwati’s body and set it on fire. Ratheesh told police that Ashwati had set herself on fire. An action council was formed, but the investigation went nowhere. The preliminary conclusion of the local police was suicide. Crime Branch has taken over the Ashwati case as part of a new investigation into unproven cases.
The burn on Ratheesh’s hand on the day of Ashwathi’s death aroused suspicions. The accused’s statement was that he was burned while he was trying to save Ashwathi. The doctor who conducted the autopsy that day expressed concerns about the burns. The palms of the dead Aswathi were not burned. Investigators say that if someone spills kerosene and sets it on fire, their hands are burned first. Ratheesh confessed to the crime after being questioned in detail.
English summary: Aswathy’s death is not suicide but murder by her husband