Malayali nurse dies in mysterious circumstances in Bhopal, friend in police custody

KOCHI: A Palluruthy native nurse died under mysterious circumstances in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. The deceased has been identified as TM Maya (37), a native of Perumbadappu's Velankanni. Deepak Kattiyar, her friend and a private hospital administrator from Uttar Pradesh, was taken into police custody. Murder is suspected.

Maya was a nursing college tutor in Kochi. She moved to Lalghati with her husband Raju three years ago after getting a job in a hospital in Bhopal. After not getting any job, Raju went back home. Maya lived in a rented apartment with her 11-year-old son. Maya did not maintain much relationship with Raju. On Thursday morning, his son called Raju to inform him that his mother had died in a car accident.

The matter came to fore when Raju reached Bhopal by plane that evening with the money given by his friends. Maya had gone to Deepak's flat on the day of the incident. Deepak said that Maya had collapsed in the flat and was rushed to the hospital. The doctor, who was suspicious of the scars on her neck, passed the information to the police. Kochi City Police received information that blood stains and signs of beating were found in Deepak's flat.

Maya was in a romantic relationship with Raju, who hails from the same place, before marriage. Maya's father had died earlier. Her mother lives with her sister in Palakkad. Another sister is in Coimbatore. Maya was cremated in Bhopal.