Malayattoor murder: She searched for her missing daughter for 3 days only to end in heartbreak

Kochi: For three days, Shini, a catering worker from Mundangamattam in Ernakulam’s Malayattoor, had been moving from house to house, lane to lane, asking the same question no parent ever wants to ask: “Has anyone seen my daughter?”

On Tuesday afternoon, while she was still clinging to hope, a call came to her husband Shyju’s phone, and Shini picked it up. A local resident, who expected Shyju to pick up the phone, hesitated for a moment. Not knowing how to break the news, the caller only said her 19-year-old Chithrapriya had been “found.”

Hearing the news, Shini dropped everything and sped off on her scooter. At that very moment, TL Pradeep, president of Sahridaya Library and a close family friend, was at his ward’s polling booth, serving as a booth agent. He had just stepped out briefly to drop his son at a nearby junction on his scooter when he noticed Shini rushing towards him from the opposite direction, her face tense, her movements frantic. Behind her, Shyju and their young son followed on another scooter, racing in the same direction

“Shini slowed down just enough to speak. “Pradeep, they said they found my daughter. Please come with me, please. Hurry,” Pradeep recalled.

Pradeep quickly dropped his own son mid-way, turned around, and followed them. The road narrowed as they neared the vacant plot near Sebiyoor Road, close to the base of the Malayattoor Kurishumudi hill, the place some residents had just checked after noticing a strange smell.

When the family and Pradeep reached the spot and tried to rush in, people stopped them. A small group formed a barrier across the path. They blocked Shini and Shyju and said, “Please don’t go there, you shouldn’t see it”.

In that moment, in the sudden silence and the people avoided her gaze, Shini understood what no mother should ever have to understand. Her daughter was gone. 

“Until we reached the spot, Shini believed her daughter was alive. But the moment she and Shyju realised they had lost her, it became very difficult to control them. We did not allow them to see the body then and took them to a nearby house. Later, they were sent home in a car. It was only after the police arrived that Shyju returned to formally identify the body,” said Pradeep, who accompanied the police to the Ernakulam Government Medical College Hospital, where the body was shifted after the inquest.

For the village, the news was devastating. Chithrapriya, the elder daughter of Shini and Shyju of Thuruthiparambil, had grown up in these lanes, known for her energy and warmth. While Shini supported the family through food catering work and Shyju worked as a driver at an interior design company, they raised both Chithrapriya and her brother to be active in sports.

According to Pradeep, Chithrapriya excelled in volleyball and was part of the school team. She participated in arts and cultural events organised by Sahridaya Library and Kalavedhi. 

“She was always lively and was active in dancing, singing, and playing. Her murder has shaken the whole community,” he said.

A disappearance that alarmed the community
On Saturday night, after attending an Ayyappan Vilakku festival, held in connection with Sabarimala Mandalakalam pilgrimage, at Mundangamattom with her family, Chithrapriya stepped out again, saying she was going to a nearby shop. When she didn’t return, and her phone stopped ringing by morning, the family grew anxious.

Local ward member Anie Jose said Shini never believed the rumours that her daughter may have eloped with her school friend Alan (21). “She always said her daughter would never disappear without informing her parents. Because there was no contact, Shini feared something was wrong, and her daughter was in trouble. Her motherly instinct was true,” Jose said. 

Based on the family’s complaint, Kalady police registered a missing case and began searching along with residents. CCTV footage later showed Chithrapriya and Alan on a motorcycle a few hundred metres from where her body was found.

Chithrapriya’s family and the police had also contacted Alan’s father, Benny, a fish seller, to check if he knew where the two of them were. There were discussions that if Chithrapriya and Alan were in a relationship and had gone away together, the matter could be addressed once they returned.

“But even Alan’s father had no idea where they were. In fact, he joined the search along with the rest of us, looking for both of them,” Pradeep said. 

According to the local residents, the plot where the body was found had been cleared of bushes only a few weeks earlier. Usually, children played there, and a tanker lorry parked intermittently. But, since the tanker owner was a candidate and he was busy with the elections, the vehicle remained parked there for days, and nobody visited the plot. Otherwise, the body would have been found earlier. It was a foul smell that prompted residents to investigate, leading to the discovery.

At the scene, Chithrapriya’s body was lying face down, still in her track-suit-like jersey t-shirt and jeans. The deep injuries to her head were visible, Pradeep said.

On Wednesday, Kalady police confirmed it was murder, and that Alan, currently in preventive custody, had confessed. According to police, the two had argued, and in a moment of sudden provocation, he allegedly struck her with a rock, which was later recovered from the spot.

The police are verifying whether she was killed at the same spot and whether anyone else was involved. Digital evidence, including her mobile phone data, is being analysed. Alan’s formal arrest for murder is yet to be recorded.