THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mariyappan, who killed his wife Kanniyamma was suffering from mental disorder, said Kanniyamma’s relatives at their residence at Sreevaraham. He had been showing several symptoms of mental disorder for the past two years and was not subjected to any medical treatment. It is suspected that Mariyappan, who used to be a calm person killed his wife as an aftereffect of watching a movie in the evening of the incident. Mariyappan and Knniyamma had seen a Vikram movie that was released recently. Mariyappan murdered Kanniyamma by striking her head with a hammer and slashing her throat using a knife. He wiped off the blood using a paper and kept the knife and hammer on the table.

The locals of Sreevaraham have not yet recovered from the shock of the incident. Mariyappan and his family, who resided near Mukkolakkal temple in Sreevaraham were very close with the neighbours and locals. The couple had no issues with each other. Neighbours said that they had not ever heard any dispute between the couple. They reached the capital 20 years ago and were residing at Thoppumudukk in Manacaud. They used to sell scraps and later kitchen utensils. Their daughter Geetha is married and settled in Tamil Nadu. Their son Ganeshan is also in Tamil Nadu, another son Manikandan has been living with them. They were financially sound. The neighbours had only good things to say about the family. Mariyappan was not an alcoholic. The couple used to visit temple and watch movies together.