A case which initially seemed like an accidental death of an old woman has turned out to be a murder for gold ornaments in Wayanad. Thondernad police have arrested Cholayil Veettil Hakkim, 42, in connection with the murder of Vilangil Veettil Kunjami, 72.
Her body was found in a well about 1 km away from her home on Thursday morning. Thondernad police registered a case for unnatural death. The relatives also wrote it off as an accidental death thinking the woman may have slipped and fallen into the well while walking around the area.
However, police began probing the murder angle after the postmortem report indicated that the death was caused by strangulation. Interestingly, it was Hakkim who informed the police about the missing woman, and he even participated in the search operations along with others in the locality.
Hakkim used to assist the woman in various ways in the past as she was alone with her daughter and grandchild. Hakkim killed the woman when she was alone at home, and later, the body was thrown into the well. He also pledged the gold ornaments in a private financial institution that were recovered by the police later.
A returnee from the Gulf, Hakkim had earlier run a fabric shop at Vellamunda and later engaged in food distribution. Kunjami was missing since Wednesday. She was alone at home during the time as Sajitha had gone to a hospital at Vellamunda, and her grandchild was away at school.
It was the grandson who returned from school who had informed the neighbours that the grandmother was missing. Though the local residents and relatives searched for her, she couldn't be found. The body of the woman was recovered from an abandoned well in a bushy area.
Apart from the gold ornaments, including a chain and earrings, her head scarf was also missing from the body. Relatives doubted that she alone would not walk such a long distance away from home that too without closing the door which had strengthened the suspicion but the culprit was still at large.
Though police had quizzed the neighbours and relatives regarding the incident, there was no sign of the culprit. Fingerprint experts also collected evidence from the spot. Later, the police received information that Hakkim had pledged a few gold ornaments to a private financial institution. Hakkim was produced at the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Mananthavadi and was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
