The police have confirmed that the woman who was found dead in Malaysia is not Dr Omana Edadan, the ophthalmologist from Payyannur in Kannur who is accused of brutally killing lover 21 years ago.

On Thursday, after the Indian High Commission in Malaysia issued a notice and a photo in a newspaper of an unidentified Indian woman found dead there, there were speculations about whether it could be Dr Omana Edadan. Police had also said that Omana’s family had confirmed similarities between the photo and Omana.

However, on Saturday police confirmed that it was not Omana but it 37-year-old Merlin Ruby from Cheriyathura in Thiruvananthapuram.

Surprisingly Merlin’s body was identified weeks back and has been brought back home on October 18. Her body had already been cremated at Valliyathura church. Merlin was working at an Electronics shop in Malaysia and had died after accidently falling from a building in June. Since the Malaysian police could not identify her body she was kept in a mortuary for four months. Police said that Merlin’s family did not hear from her after June and they were in search of her.

After her body was identified the Indian High Commission informed the Kerala police regarding this. So, the first notice of the High Commission appeared in newspapers in the last week of September.

Meanwhile, the Crime Branch in Kerala received another reminder from the High Commission and they re-published the notice leading to this confusion, said the police from Taliparamba.

However, now police have closed the case after confirming that it was not Omana.

On July 11, 1996, Omana allegedly poisoned her estranged lover P Muraleedharan, a contractor, at a railway retiring room in Ooty.

Later, she chopped his body into pieces and stuffed them in a suitcase before carrying it in a taxi to Kodaikanal. Though she spent a few years in the Madras Central Jail, Omana secured bail in 2001. She later jumped jail and was suspected to have fled the country. She is one of the most wanted in Interpol list.