Thiruvananthapuram: Youth electrocutes 51-year-old wife 2 months after marriage

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The rural police took into custody a 28-year-old youth in connection with the death of his 51-year-old wife at Karakkonam here on Saturday. Arun, 28, a resident of Balaramapuram is learnt to have confessed to police of murdering his wife Shakha Kumari whom he had married two months ago. Arun works as an electrician in a private hospital in the city.
While Kumari was brought to hospital dead on Saturday morning, Arun told the doctors that she got electrocuted from contact with decorative lights at home and that he found her motionless in the house. The doctors grew suspicious and informed the police.
During questioning, Arun confessed to murder. The Vellarada police registered a case of unnatural death on Saturday. The motive of murder and modus operandi can be revealed only after receiving postmortem report, said police. Along with forensic examination, the police plan an examination by electrical inspectorate officials to find out how the electrocution took place.
According to local residents, Arun had been in a romantic relation with Kumari, a spinster who lived with her ailing mother at Thresyapuram, near Karakonam. Kumari’s family owned several acres of land and Arun had agreed to the marriage with an eye on the assets. Her relatives told police that she had given him Rs 10 lakh and a car at the time of marriage. However, Arun didn’t want to publicize the marriage, solemnized as per religious customs.
Though police didn’t reveal any motive, sources hinted that a quarrel between Kumari and Arun took place recently. A home nurse taking care of Kumari’s mother is learnt to have testified to police about it. Kumari circulated their marriage pictures and this angered Arun who had then hatched ways to get rid of her.