Alappuzha: Subhadra (73), whose body was found at Korthussery in Kalavoor, was strangled to death, police said, attributing to autopsy information. " Preliminary information following autopsy shows that she was strangled to death. Her ribs sustained  fractures. Her arms were also fractured," Mannanchery police officials probing the murder said. When the police recovered the body, the left hand was tied on the back in a broken condition.

The body of Subhadra, a resident of ‘Sivakripa’, at Karithala Road, near Ernakulam South railway station (Ernakulam Junction), was found buried on the premises of a house at Kalavoor in Alappuzha. Mathews (Nidhin), belonging to Pallipparambil in Kattoor and his wife Sharmila, hailing from Udupi in Karnataka, who were staying in the house on rent, have gone missing. The police suspect that the couple allegedly murdered Subhadra to obtain her gold ornaments. Subhadra’s body was identified by her sons Radhakrishnan and Rajesh. Subhadra used to wear a knee bandage, which helped her sons identify her body.

Early in August, Subhadra’s son Radhakrishnan filed a missing complaint with the police in Ernakulam after she went incommunicado. On tracing her phone calls, the police noticed that Subhadra had reached Kalavoor in Alappuzha. CCTV visuals of Subhadra walking along with another woman on August 4 were also obtained from Ernakulam South. Even though the woman accompanying Subhadra was identified as Sharmila, the police found that her rented house in Kalavoor was locked. A cadaver dog later pointed out Subhadra’s buried body on the compound of the house.

Meanwhile, the relatives of Mathews said that Subhadra and Sharmila had engaged in financial transactions. , who told the police that the gold jewellery worn regularly by their mother was missing. The police have also received evidence that the couple had pawned Subhadra’s gold.

According to police Mathews had earlier been married to another woman who was her co-worker in a firm. They got separated and he then married Sharmila.