Man accused of misbehaving with woman inside bus found dead in lodge

VARKALA: A man who was named accused in a case of misbehaving with a woman lawyer has been found dead in a lodge in Varkala. The deceased has been identified as Vimal Kumar (37), a native of Athiyannoor, Balaramapuram. He was working as an employee at Soorya Bar in Attingal.

The Mangalapuram Police had registered a case after a woman lawyer complained that Vimal Kumar behaved inappropriately while travelling on a KSRTC bus from Thiruvananthapuram to Attingal on February 11.

The lawyer had also submitted a photograph of Vimal Kumar that was taken during the bus journey. Police identified him through the image shared on social media. He had been asked by the police to appear at the station. After this, Vimal Kumar reportedly went missing while under severe mental stress. Locals said there had never been any complaints about Vimal Kumar earlier. His family also maintains that he was innocent.

In the following days, his family tried to contact him over the phone, but his mobile phone remained switched off. A few days earlier, he had called his wife Anju and told her that he was experiencing high blood pressure and needed to see a doctor. After that, the family could not reach him.

Vimal Kumar had checked into a lodge in Varkala on February 28. When lodge staff noticed that he had not come out of the room for a long time, they knocked on the door. As there was no response, they informed the Varkala Police. When the police opened the room, Vimal Kumar was found lying on the floor near the bed. Police said the body appeared to be around three days old.

Police stated that the cause of death was cardiac arrest. Since there was no evidence of a suicide attempt, they suspect that severe mental stress may have led to his death. Vimal Kumar had been living with his family in a rented house at Kannettumukku, Jagathy, in Thiruvananthapuram for a long time.

After the post-mortem at Parippally Medical College, the body was brought to his family home for public viewing. Later in the evening, the cremation was carried out at the Maranalloor electric crematorium.

Vimal Kumar is survived by his father Vijayakumaran Nair, mother Vasanthakumari, wife Anju, and children Devananda and Shivadev.