Wayanad: A death initially thought to have been caused by an accidental fall inside the home, has turned out to be a murder.
Police said the woman was murdered by her daughter's live-in partner.
The deceased is Puthiyapurayil Sumithra, 63, wife of the late Thankaraju, of Narikkallu, Tholppetty.
A police team headed by Tirunelly SHO G Vishnu arrested Murukan, 42, a native of Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, for her murder on Tuesday.
Sumithra was found lying on the bed bleeding from her forehead. Her son Babu found her unconscious and he rushed her to the Government Medical College, Mananthavady. But she succumbed to her injuries.
Babu informed the police that his mother had died from a fatal fall inside the room. He thought she might have hit her head against the wooden cot causing blood loss.
But when the postmortem report said the cause of death was not fall but strangulation, police intensified their probe.
Murukan, who was the live-in partner of Sumithra's daughter Indira, was taken into custody on Monday after the police learned that he was seen roaming around the area before Babu took his mother to the hospital.
After interrogation, Murukan confessed to the crime, police said.
Murukan was a driver in the Gulf where Indira was working. A few months ago both returned home and started living together. When Indira went back to work in June, Murukan started living with Indira’s children, brother Babu and mother Sumithra at their home at Narikkallu.
Sumithra and Murukan were not on good terms after she tried to get the man out of the house. This was the reason for the enmity that eventually led to the crime, police said.
Murukan told police that he strangled Sumithra to death and pushed her onto the wooden cot.
Babu was not home when the murder took place. Indira's children who were at home said they did not witness the act but confirmed the presence of Murukan in the house.
The investigation was carried out by a team led by DySP PL Shyju.
