Sam Abraham and his wife Sofia Sam. File photoMelbourne: Ten months after the death of a Keralite here, an Australian court remanded his wife and her paramour in judicial custody after arresting them for allegedly poisoning the man to death with cyanide.
The pair were remanded to reappear for a committal mention on February 13 next year.
Sam Abraham died of cyanide poisoning at his Epping home in October last year. His death came just three months after he was attacked in what police allege was an attempted murder.
After several months of sophisticated covert investigations, detectives arrested his wife Sofia Sam and her lover Arun Kamalasanan alleging poison plot, The Herald Sun reported.
All the three hailed from Kerala.
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Both the accused, Sofia and Kamalasanan, stood expressionless when the remand order was read out, the report added.
"Dressed neatly in a white tank top, a large necklace, and with her shoulder-length dark hair out, Mrs Sam was motionless during a short court appearance. At one time she put her face in her hands. Her family was in court and visibly distressed," the report said.
The police have charged Kamalasanan, 34, of Port Melbourne, with attempted murder and a separate charge of murder while 32-year-old Sofia Sam has been charged with murder.
In a hearing recently, Melbourne Magistrates' Court heard that police had intercepted phone calls throughout their covert probe and had about three months of phone recordings to transcribe.
Police also said that Sofia and Kamalasanan were having an extra-marital affair and plotted Sam's murder on Facebook Messenger, the online chat app.
In July last year, Sam Abraham was also attacked and stabbed by a balaclava-clad man who had been hiding in the foot-well of his car at Lalor train station.
Cable ties, material scraps and handcuffs were found in his car. Abraham had received injuries to the neck, temple and cheek.
Police alleged Kamalasanan was the man in the balaclava.
The magistrate granted investigators extra time to transcribe phone conversations and prepare evidence.
Sofia's elder sister Sonia, who is working as a nursing in Melbourne, would be taking care of Sofia and Sam Abraham's seven-year-old son now.
(With agency inputs)
