Woman's death at in-law's house in Alappuzha not suicide? Family alleges foul play, note recovered

KUNNATHUR: The family of a young woman, who was found dead in Punnapra, came out against the victim’s husband, Ajith. Reshma (29) of Puthuparampil House, Sooranad, Kollam, was found dead on Friday. Reshma's father, Prakashan, says that he tried to contact his daughter and son-in-law on the phone several times on the day of the incident, but to no avail. He went to Ajith’s house after a relative asked him to arrive at the earliest, saying that Reshma’s son was unwell. When Prakashan arrived at Ajith’s house in Alappuzha, he found his daughter's lifeless body lying on the ground. No one was home at the time.

Then the Alappuzha SP and the Tahsildar arrived and shifted the body to the hospital. Neither Ajith nor his family attended the final rites when the body was brought to the house in Sooranad after the postmortem. The family even hesitated to send the son for the final rites. It was after the police intrusion that the issue was solved.

Ajith and Reshma married in April 2018. The family alleges that Reshma had caught her husband's extramarital affairs with evidence. Reshma, who was a collection agent at a microfinance institution, was even denied food at her in-laws’ house. Prakashan clarified that his daughter had said that she would not commit suicide no matter what happened. This has now raised suspicion over the death.

Despite giving 25 sovereigns of gold and rupees two lakh as dowry, there were squabbles, demanding more gold. On the 18th day of the wedding, Ajith pawned the gold, including the sacred Thali. When she visited Sooranad recently, Reshma wrote in her sister's diary, asking her family not to hand over her son to Ajith’s family. She also mentioned that Ajith had no love for her.