The funeral rites of Soumya, the woman police officer set ablaze by another cop, were held at her Vallikkunnu residence in Kerala's Alappuzha district on Thursday. Soumya's husband Sajeev reached home from Libya on Wednesday (June 19). Sajeev, who works as a plumber and electrician in a private firm in Libya, said he was not planning to go back to his job.

“My children need at least one parent at home to support and look after them. I will play both father and mother to my children,” a heartbroken Sajeev said. Sajeev got a hint of his wife's gruesome murder from a WhatsApp group while he was at his workplace. Later, his elder brother Shaji spoke to him for half an hour and told him what happened.

A shocked Sajeev spent three days without food. “Sajeev's health had deteriorated by the time he reached here. He is down both mentally and physically,” Shaji told Onmanorama. The children embraced Sajeev as soon as he reached home and broke into tears. Close relatives said his children had told Sajeev not to leave them alone. “Chaacha, don't go back again. We are all scared,” the children are said to have told their father.

However, Sajeev's return seems to have calmed the kids. According to relatives, the presence of their father has lifted their spirits.

Soumya Pushpakaran, a 34-year-old civil police officer and mother of three children, was hacked and burnt to death by another cop N A Ajaz on June 15. While Soumya died on the spot, her assailant Ajaz succumbed to burns four days later at a hospital.

Soumya's son keeps his word

The 13-year-old elder son of Soumya revealed his suspicion about Ajaz's role in Soumya's death to Mavelikkara MP Kodikkunnil Suresh when the latter visited Soumya's house following her death. Soumya had reportedly asked her son to inform an 'authority concerned' that Ajaz would be her killer if she ever gets murdered.

According to Shaji, the teenager kept mum until the first dignitary visited their house. “He did not reveal anything to us until Kodikkunnil Suresh visited our house. We were all stunned when the boy, normally a shy person, went straight to the MP and told him that Ajaz was his mother's killer,” Shaji said.

Soumya's son had earlier revealed that his mother wept at night after having long arguments over phone with Ajaz.

Ajaz had stated that he killed Soumya as she spurned his proposal to marry her.