Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Police, probing the murder of a woman at Amboori in Thiruvananthapuram district, have recovered her clothes, considered to be crucial evidence in the case. The clothes of the victim, Rakhi, were found in an abandoned state at Chittattinkara in the district. Blood stains were found on the clothes.
The body of the 30-year-old woman was found buried in the backyard of the prime accused Akhil's under-construction house at Amboori on July 24. The three accused in the case are her lover Akhil, his brother Rahul and their friend, Aadarsh.
The accused in their statement to cops said that they abandoned the clothes while making an escape bid.
The mobile phone believed to be of Rakhi and the rope used to strangle her to death were found earlier. To destroy the evidence after the murder, the accused had abandoned them in three parts. These were found from Vazhichal. The accused had tried to scuttle the probe by using the phone after first removing the SIM.
Prime accused Akhil had told the police that he had abandoned Rakhi's handbag during a bus journey to Guruvayur. The bag is yet to be recovered. The rope was found during a search at Akhil's house.
The woman's body was found one month after the murder on June 21. The body was buried and salt was sprinkled on it.
Then shall I kill you?
Rakhi Mol, the daughter of Poovar native Rajan, had been in a relationship with Akhil for long and the couple had got secretly married. However, Akhil's wedding was later fixed with another woman and he decided to get Rakhi out of his life.
On the fateful day, Akhil took Rakhi along with him on the car. When they reached Amboori, Rahul too got into the rear seat of the car. Aadarsh, who was waiting with Rahul, then returned on his two-wheeler.
When they reached Kumbichal, Akhil got into the back seat of the car and Rahul continued to drive the car. Akhil told his brother that Rakhi was not willing to back off, and that was threatening him and was not letting him live. When he asked “Then shall I kill you”, Rakhi said, "Yes". He told the police that had the woman backed off, he would not have killed her.
They got married at a temple
The police said that Rakhi and Akhil got married at a temple in Ernakulam on February 15. Akhil had tied a thali (mangalstura) and that were living as a couple.
During this time, Akhil's family fixed an alliance for him from Anthiyoorkonam. Irked by this, Rakhi tried to foil that marriage proposal. She also threatened Akhil.
The murder
The three accused plotted the murder well in advance. As per plan, they dug a pit behind Akhil's house and collected salt.
Rakhi, working at the broadband section of a private channel in Ernakulam, went to her native place on June 18. Rakhi left her home on June 21. While she was waiting at the bus stand, Akhil turned up and offered to show her his newly constructed house and took her in a friend's car to Amboori. Rahul and Aadarsh were standing in front of the new house then.
Rahul got into the rear seat of the car with Rakhi. He told her, "You would sabotage my brother's wedding? You don't have to live anymore,". He then choked her. When Rakhi cried out, Akhil revved the car engine to muffle her voice.
When Rakhi fell unconscious, Akhil and Rahul used a plastic rope to strangulate her.
The three accused took out the body from the car and carried it to the pit. They removed her clothes and sprinkled salt over the body.
All the salt in one shop were procured
Akhil said that he had bought all the available salt packets from a shop in the locality. He took a bath after the murder and then dropped off Rahul and Aadarsh at Thambanoor in the same car. They then took a long-distance private bus to Guruvayur. He told the police that on their way to Thambanoor, he threw Rakhi's clothes into the bushes by the wayside.
