The main accused in the Udayamperoor murder case committed suicide on Monday, a day before the trial for the case was scheduled to begin in the Ernakulam court.

32-year-old Binuraj was arrested by the police officials in December 2014 for hacking his teen ‘girlfriend’ to death. He allegedly hacked her to death due to a strained relationship.

According to police officials, Binuraj was found hanging inside an empty house.

“We found him hanging in the kitchen of an empty house located in an unattended plot. We are waiting for the post-mortem report,” Udayamperoor Police Station SI Robin Thomas told TNM.

“As per the initial investigation conducted by the police officials, it only appears to be a suicide attempt. The accused was expecting a verdict that would not favour him as we had strong evidence against him”, Robin added.

The trial was to begin on Wednesday. Binuraj had been charged under section 302 (punishment for murder) and section 449 (house-trespass in order to commit offence punishable with death).

According to media reports, Binuraj murdered 18-year-old Neethu Babu alias Chinnu, on December 18, 2014.

The girl was in class 10 when she was in a relationship with the accused. As Neethu’s family was against the relationship, she tried to elope with Binuraj. The police got involved after the girl’s family filed a complaint, but it was later settled that the two would get married after Neethu turned 18, reported Manorama.