In a major twist, the preliminary investigation carried out by police has revealed that Arun, 28, had smothered his wife Shakhakumari to death in the bedroom before dragging her body to the drawing room and electrocuting it.
During the questioning of Arun, it became clear that he had smothered his wife to death with bare hands. Though the accused confessed to the crime, the police have not yet recorded his arrest in the case.
The police said more details will be disclosed about the crime after getting the postmortem examination and forensic reports. Blood marks were traced in the bedroom and on the bedsheet during forensic examination.
Shakhakumari was brought to a private hospital as a case of electrocution on Saturday early morning. At the time of admission, Arun told the hospital staff that his wife had got electrocuted as she accidentally touched a live wire connected with an electric lamp set up for Christmas decoration. With doctors suspecting foul play, the police arrived and took Arun into custody. Shakhakumari who was running a beauty parlour in Neyyattinkara became close to Arun two years ago. Their marriage took place just two months ago.
The photographs of his marriage with Shakhakumari who was 23 years older to him, appearing in the social media had provoked him no end. Arun’s family was not aware of his marriage with Shakhakumari. The relationship between the two got worsened after his friends started teasing him for marrying an older woman and his attempts to usurp her property.
The murder took place on the last day of the penance taken by Shakhakumari for a change in husband’s character for good. Arun drew electricity directly from the meter board in the name of providing supply to the electrical decoration set up in connection with Christmas celebrations.
Since the neighbours were aware of an earlier incident in which Arun had made an attempt to electrocute Shakhakumari, the local residents suspected something fishy this time as well and informed the police.
"I always felt a strong possibility of Shakha being murdered. I even told her about my fears," said Preetha who was a close friend of Shakakumari.
"I told her about this citing the example of Uthara who was bitten to death by a poisonous snake let loose by her husband," she added.
It was clear that Arun had married Shakha just for her wealth and property. When Preetha pointed this out to Shakha, she said Arun's presence had brought some relief to her.
Arun had sought Rs 50 lakh and 100 sovereigns of gold saying that he belonged to a very poor family and had a lot of liabilities. She used to give money to Arun even before their marriage. It was she who paid for the rented house and bought household goods.
On the day of marriage Arun reached church quite late. No relatives accompanied him to the church either. At the marriage ceremony, he was opposed to getting clicked in marriage photographs.
After marriage, Arun was a completely changed man. He used to pick up a fight almost regularly. He didn’t pose for pictures during the reception held in the evening on the day of marriage. Besides, he had given instructions not to show his pictures along with Shakha to anyone. There were also frequent brawls between the two over delay in registration of marriage.
Shakha used to give him money whenever Arun demanded. A car was also bought by her in Arun's name. He even forced her to sell off a portion of the property and give money to him. The registration of marriage got delayed because of the argument over property sale.
Meanwhile, Preetha conveyed all details of the conversations Shakha had with her regarding her marriage and subsequent marital discord. The WhatsApp messages have also been handed over to the investigating officers.
