Kannur/ Kuwait City: A Malayali couple, working as nurses, was found dead with knife wounds in their apartment in Kuwait in what police and relatives suspect to be a case of homicide-suicide.

The deceased have been identified as Suraj Kuzhiyath John (39), a native of Mandalam in Kannur’s Naduvil grama panchayat, and his wife Bincy (35), from Keezhillam near Perumbavoor in Ernakulam’s Rayamangalam panchayat. The couple, who had been married for 11 years, are survived by their daughter Evelyn (9) and son Edwin (6).

The incident happened on Thursday morning in Abbasiya, a residential locality in Kuwait. "We suspect an argument broke out after their night shift. In a fit of rage, he may have stabbed her. In all probability, it would have been an accident because he sounded shattered when he called his friends," said Baby Odampallil, Naduvil ward member and a family friend.

Suraj reportedly told his friends after the incident that his wife had died at his hands, and that he too was going. Soon after, he removed his WhatsApp profile photo and deleted his status photos from the app.

Suraj was a nurse at the government-run Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah Health Center, and Bincy worked as a nurse under the Ministry of Defence. The couple returned to Kuwait just two days earlier, on April 29, after spending Easter with their families in Kerala. Their children had stayed back at Bincy’s home in Keezhillam. "They did not take the children back because they were in the process of moving to Australia. They took the kids' passports along," said Baby. "They were a happy family when they left home."

According to Baby (54), who has known Suraj since childhood, the incident is believed to have occurred between 10.15 am and 10.30 am IST, or 7.45 am to 8.00 am in Kuwait.

After hearing something was amiss, Suraj’s mother, Thankamma, called him at 11.26 am IST. She asked to speak to Bincy, but Suraj told her that Bincy had stepped out to buy something. By 12.30 pm IST, both bodies had been moved to a local hospital for autopsy. Bincy had a stab wound to her chest, and Suraj had a wound on his neck.

The postmortem is expected to be carried out on Saturday, as Friday is a public holiday in Kuwait. The bodies may reach Kerala on Monday or Tuesday.

Suraj’s elder sister Sunitha is also a nurse in Kuwait. His younger sister Sumi works as a software engineer in Bengaluru. Their late father, John Kuzhiyatt, had moved from Nedumkunnam near Changanassery to Naduvil about 30 years ago after his rubber trading business collapsed. "Then Suraj was seven or eight years old," Baby recalled.

In Naduvil, John bought land and turned to farming. When his children grew up, he sold a part of the land to fund their higher education. He passed away eight years ago. "But before that, he made sure his children were educated, employed, and financially secure," said Baby. 
The funeral will be held at St Jude Church, Mandalam.