They are lying there dead: Maid who saw bodies of Kottayam couple ran out screaming

On Tuesday morning, the shops across the main road at Thiruvathukkal, where a couple were found murdered in their house, were just beginning to open when a scream pierced the routine buzz of the neighbourhood.

Revamma, the maid at the massive two-storey house that stood right across the shops, stumbled out through the side gate, visibly shaken. She ran across the road, her voice trembling and breath short. “They’ve been murdered… They’re lying there… lifeless… someone come quickly,” she cried, barely able to speak.

Jayan and Robin, two shop owners, along with Venu, a neighbour living just opposite, rushed to the compound. They entered the sit-out area. A grinding stone lay near the front door. An adjacent door, slightly ajar, led into a side room. A black dog, visibly ill and aged, lay inside. An eerie silence clouded the house.

Too afraid to step inside, the trio peered through a window on the left side of the house. One pane was slightly open, the other had a folded piece of paper wedged in to hold it closed. Through the gap, they saw Meera, lying in a pool of blood near a table, an axe beside her. Her dress was partially torn.

Panic gripped them. No one dared go any further. Jayan dialled the police, but couldn’t connect. Venu tried next and succeeded. Within 10 minutes, officers arrived and sealed the house.

According to Vijayan, another shopkeeper, “Revamma usually arrives by 8.30 am. The owners are always awake by then. They open the door for her. Today, when no one answered the bell, she tried the door — it was unlocked.”

Inside, she first spotted Meera lying in a room near the entrance. Thinking she would tell Vijayakumar, Revamma rushed to his bedroom upstairs, only to find him also dead, with blood all over his body. That’s when she ran out, screaming.
 “She told us they had been hacked to death,” said Robin.

Revamma, who lives 3 km away, followed the same routine every day. She would arrive at 8.30 am by private bus, change into her house clothes in the outhouse, and begin her chores.

“There’s also an elderly man from Tamil Nadu who lives there and does the outdoor work,” Robin added. “He seems to have some mental issues and didn’t realise anything until Revamma alerted him. Even then, he refused to go inside. When we arrived, he was standing near the porch, dazed.”

"It was this man who usually bought the household essentials. The owners would send him with a list and pay the bills directly to shopkeepers via Google Pay," said Robin.