Thiruvananthapuram: The Crime Branch has finally made a breakthrough in a decade-old missing case reported from southern Kerala. A woman and her toddler had gone missing from Oorutambalam, near Neyyattinkara, in August 2011. Now, her live-in partner admitted to murdering them by pushing them into the sea.

Divya (30) and her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Gauri, were the victims. It was on August 18, 2011, that the two had gone missing.

According to police sources, the victim’s live-in partner Mahinkannu of Poovar, a fish merchant, owned up to the crime during sustained interrogation by the Crime Branch after the local police had messed up the case.

“He has admitted to killing the woman and her child by pushing them off the boat and leaving them to drown in the sea 11 years ago. His wife, too, is suspected to have a role in the murders. We have taken her too into custody,” they said.

Thiruvananthapuram Rural Police chief D Shilpa informed that two persons are in police custody and that the investigation is in the final stage.

Divya's mother

All these years Divya's mother Radha was hopeful of their return someday. However, Mahinkannu's disclosure has dashed her hopes. She collapsed at the Crime Branch office crest-fallen on Tuesday upon learning of the murder.

Radha's pursuit of the missing case in bid to trace her missing daughter and granddaughter finally led to the unravelling of the cold-blooded murder.

The Maranalloor Police had closed the missing case long back, without any serious inquiry, but she ran from pillar to post all the while, demanding a fair probe in the case. In between, her husband committed suicide, unable to bear the disappearance of his daughter. Still, Radha fought on. Finally, the Crime Branch formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the case based on her written complaint.

Soured ties led to murder

According to police, Divya had fallen in love with Mahinkannu and started living with him in a rented house at Oorutambalam. Soon she got pregnant. But the accused refused to marry her and fled abroad. Her father, Jayachandran, then did casual jobs to look after her and sustain the family. She soon gave birth to a girl child and Mahinkannu too returned from the Gulf one year after that. Her relatives intervened and forced the accused to come back and stay with the victim. It was then that Divya learned that her live-in partner is already married.

The duo used to frequently fight over that. On the day she went missing, Divya called up her mother and informed her that she and her daughter were going out with Mahinkannu. Thereafter, the mother and the baby went missing.

Though the Maranalloor police tracked Mahinkannu based on a missing complaint filed by Divya’s relatives, he lied that the mother and the child were at the popular pilgrimage town Velankanni on the Tamil Nadu coast. He made good his escape by claiming that he was going to bring them back. However, Mahinkannu went abroad again. Though he returned to his native place after some time, the police had by then abandoned the case investigation. He continued to live with his family at Poovar.

However, Radha, was in search of her dear ones in the hope of their return someday. And she continued her efforts till 4.30 pm on Tuesday when the Crime Branch police finally revealed the truth. She collapsed to the floor on hearing the worst news. The women cops rushed her to a nearby hospital.