In what looks like yet another instance of what has now been dubbed 'lovelorn twin killings', a 21-year-old youth Unni strangled a teenage girl Sumi, 18, to death and then hanged himself to death at Kallara in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram on June 19.
Their bodies were found inside a rubber plantation near Sumi's house. Sumi's body was found on the ground and Unni's was found hanging from a rubber tree nearby.
According to the Police, the preliminary understanding is that both Unni and Sumi were lovers for over three years. Unni, who lives at Venjaramoodu, is said to be a distant relative of Sumi. From questioning neighbours and friends of the deceased, the police are under the impression that Unni had felt betrayed and provoked when Sumi's parents wanted to arrange their daughter's marriage with another man.
Unni, who felt that Sumi was getting close to this person, had been constantly trying to talk Sumi out of the new relationship. More than a week ago Sumi had to be rushed to hospital after she overdosed on pills. On hearing this, it is said Unni too had attempted suicide by cutting his wrists. Both were saved.
Police sources Onmanorama talked to said Sumi's parents had long felt their daughter's relationship with Unni was toxic, that Unni was causing her unbearable mental trauma. They wanted the relationship to end and had called Unni to their house on June 19.
It is said the parents had asked Unni to spare their girl. It is not clear what transpired inside the house but some of the neighbours told the police that they saw Unni and Sumi talking alone outside the house. It could have been that Unni had requested Sumi's parents to talk to her alone.
After some time, when it was getting darker and Sumi had still not got back into the house, her parents went outside and found that both were not to be seen. They rushed out in search of the two and, after a long search, found them dead in the rubber plantation nearby.
Police said there were signs that Unni had strangled Sumi. The sand and grit found on Sumi are seen as evidence that some kind of struggle had taken place between Unni and Sumi. Further details about the twin deaths would be revealed only after the post mortem on Sumi's body.
Such 'lovelorn twin killings' have not been rare in Kerala. In early August, 2021, a 24-year-old dental student, P V Manasa, was shot point blank by a youth, Rakhil P.Raghothaman, before killing himself. enthusiastic about their daughter's closeness to Unni.
In 2019, a 26-year-old Mithun called out a 17-year-old girl, Devika, from her house at Athani in Kakkanad area of Ernakulam district at midnight, poured kerosene on her body and set her aflame. Minutes later, he set himself on fire and was charred to death.
