Newly married woman found dead with slit neck; family, in-laws allege murder

Newly married woman found dead with slit neck; family, in-laws allege murder

Thiruvananthapuram: A newly married woman has been found dead at her husband's house with a slit on her neck. Both her family and that of her husband have alleged that there is something suspicious about the death.

Athira (24), the daughter of Shaji and Shreena of Santhamandir at Vennicode in Varkala, died at Sunitha Bhavan near Muthana, Gurumukku, at Kallambalam in Thiruvananthapuram. She had injuries on her neck and wrists.

Athira, who got married only a month-and-a-half ago, was found dead in the bathroom at 11.45 am on Friday. Her relatives have alleged there is something suspicious about the death.

Athira's husband Sarath, a native of Muthana who had returned from abroad just before marriage, had gone to a hospital in Kollam with his father around 8 am. His mother was also away from home for some work.

Meanwhile, Athira's mother came to visit her around 10 am, but did not find anyone at home. Not finding anyone at home, she was enquiring about their whereabouts with the neighbours when Sarath and his father returned.

Unable to find Athira, everyone started looking for her and found the bathroom locked from inside. They then broke open the bathroom door and found Athira dead.

The families of Athira and her husband Sarath alleged that she could have been murdered. But, the police, on the basis of the initial postmortem, have concluded that it is a case of suicide.

The police's preliminary conclusion that it is a suicide is based on the fact that there are no signs on the body that indicate any use of force. According to the doctors who did the post-mortem, the wounds on the neck and wrists were caused by a knife.

The police have recovered the knife from the bathroom, which was locked from the inside. A dog squad and fingerprint experts also visited the scene of death.

The statements collected so far make it clear that there was no one at home at the time when the death is said to have happened, the police said.

Newly married woman found dead with slit neck; family, in-laws allege murder
Athira's mother

Athira's mother, however, has said that her daughter would not have committed suicide by cutting herself.

She said her daughter was afraid of blood and often found it difficult to muster enough courage to even pull a thorn out.

Athira's father-in-law also said there is something suspicious about the circumstances in which she died.

Even though the police say it is a suicide, they are not sure about the reason for it. They have not been able to collect any clues despite taking statements from her husband and relatives.

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