Kasaragod: Police have arrested a private school teacher in connection with the murder-suicide of a five-year-old girl and her mother in Kasaragod's Kalnad grama panchayat nearly two months ago.
Melparamba police identified the arrested person as Safan (29), a resident of Erol in Bare village of Udma grama panchayat. He has been charged with abetment of suicide and destruction of evidence.
On September 15, Rubina (30), a playschool teacher, and her daughter Nayana Mariyam were found dead in a community well near their house at Aramanganam. Rubina and her daughter lived with her parents, sister, and the sister's three children.
Initially, neighbours and their panchayat members suspected the financial crisis to be the reason for the woman to take the extreme step even though the family had toured North India and visited the Taj Mahal a week before.
Her husband Thajudeen, who works in a West Asian country, returned home and filed a complaint with Melparamba police seeking an investigation into the death.
Police found that Rubina and Safan, who lived 6km apart, met on social media nine years ago and were allegedly in a relationship.
Recently, Safan decided to marry another woman, and this led to a fight between the two, said police. Soon after that, the woman and her child were found dead in a well.
Police said they checked the phones of Safan and Rubina and the chats between them had been deleted.
A court in Kasaragod remanded Safan in judicial custody.
