Thrippunithura: Premkumar and Sunitha had a fallout in their relationship two months after killing the former's wife Vidya, police sources informed.
After murdering his wife, Premkumar lived with his woman friend Sunitha for two months. However, problems cropped up between the duo and Sunitha feared that Premkumar would harm her too. Premkumar was also visibly disturbed after the murder.
Sunitha, a nursing superintendent at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, planned to return to Hyderabad, where her husband and children lived. And Premkumar, who works at a private institution in Ernakulam, wanted to escape to the Middle East, the police said.
The police on Tuesday arrested Premkumar and Sunitha for murdering the former's wife Vidya, who was reported missing from Kochi in September. Vidya was allegedly strangled to death at Peyyad in Thiruvananthapuram and her body was buried at Valliyoor in Tamil Nadu by the accused.
The body was moved out from Peyyad only 14 hours after the murder. The accused slept off after killing Vidya around 2am on September 21. In the morning, Sunitha left for hospital as usual. Premkumar roamed around, whiling away time. However, he lost patience by afternoon and went to the hospital and left with Sunitha by 2pm.
The accused then took her body to Tamil Nadu in a car. The body was kept in a sitting position on the rear seat of the car. Sunitha sat with her arms around the body to prevent it from falling off.
‘Premkumar was nonchalant’
The police said that the accused seemed unaffected by the developments. When nabbed by the police, Premkumar said that a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The accused showed no signs of remorse or guilt, while at the police station or when taken to court.
Premkumar-Vidya had a love marriage
Premkumar got acquainted with Vidya 15 years ago through a chance meeting. Premkumar was then working as a supervisor at a hotel in Muvattupuzha. Vidya had telephoned the hotel over a complaint about a missing relative, Deepak. The acquaintance grew and culminated in their wedding. The couple had lived on rent in several parts of Ernakulam, including Thevara. They had been living at Udayamperoor for the past six months.
Vidya had a son from her previous relationship. However, Premkumar said that Vidya concealed this from him and introduced her son as a cousin to him. Premkumar said that he was heart-broken when he came to know of the truth. This caused him to harbour vengeance against her, Premkumar told the police. But Vidya had told Premkumar about having a daughter from her previous marriage.
Premkumar also said that Vidya had gone missing four times earlier. She told him that she had gone to stay with her daughter during these times.
Though reports hinted that Premkumar too had been married before, he told the police that this was his first marriage.
Premkumar had worked as manager at several hotels in Ernakulam. Then he worked for four years in Middle East. He returned to Kerala in 2015 and started a recruitment institution.
'Why did he kill her?'
Vidya's mother has been left distraught after coming to know of her daughter's death.
"If he did not want her, he could have left her. Why did he have to kill her?" asked Sundarammal from her home at Cherthala in Alappuzha district. Vidya's father Thambi had died years ago.
Mortal remains to be checked
The police said the accused would be taken to Tamil Nadu and Thiruvananthapuram for evidence gathering, after being taken into custody. The police had conducted the funeral of the deceased after preserving vital body parts, including the skull. The body would be exhumed and a DNA test would be conducted.
Udayamperoor inspector K Balan led the probe team, comprising of Sub Inspectors Babu Mathew, Prassanna Paulose; ASIs Rajeev, Robert, Dileep; senior CPOs Jose, M G Santhosh and CPOs Sajith Paul, and Deepa.
