Vandiperiyar: A youth has been detained over the death of a 50-year-old woman at Dymukku in Kerala's Idukki district. The police suspect that the woman was killed during an assault attempt.
Vijayamma, wife of Vikraman Nair, was found dead near her house at Dymukku on Sunday night.
The woman was allegedly hacked on the skull using a knife when she resisted the assault. She bled to death, as per the preliminary information. The police, however, said that more details would be available only after a post-mortem.
The police said the investigation is currently centred around detained youth, Ratheesh of Dymukku, and that they were questioning him.
A mobile phone, suspected to belong to the culprit, was found from near the body. The youth was using two mobile phones and one of these was found.
The police also got a blood-stained shirt from the youth's house on Monday night.
The body was found at the Dymukku ground on Sunday night. There were signs of a struggle at the site.
Vijayamma had gone to the tea plantation to look for her cow that was out grazing.
A resident raised an alarm after hearing cries for help around 6pm. Soon after, a person was seen jumping out from the forest and fleeing the area. When the villagers conducted a search in the area, they spotted Vijayamma's body.
The police said that the detainee was part of a gang that caught birds, nesting in tall trees.
Meanwhile, Vandiperiyar police station had received a phone call on Sunday night over a leopard attack on a woman. The cops are making enquiries about this. Though two others were taken into custody along with the youth, they were later let off. The other two are also part of the bird-catching gang, the police said.
