Anatomy of a murder: How Kerala killers dug hole, strangulated woman and buried her

Police investigations have confirmed that the accused murdered Rakhi, who he was married to, in order to enter a second marriage.
Anatomy of a murder: How Kerala killers dug hole, strangulated woman and buried her
Anatomy of a murder: How Kerala killers dug hole, strangulated woman and buried her

Following the discovery of a 30-year-old woman's body in Amboori, Thiruvananthapuram, the state police have uncovered shocking details. Rakhi was murdered by Akhil, an army man she was in a relationship with. 

On Thursday, the Poovar police found Rakhi's heavily decomposed body from a vacant plot of land next to the residence of the accused Akhil in Amboori.

The investigating officers have now confirmed that Rakhi and Akhil had secretly entered wedlock in an Ernakulam temple back in February. Four months later, tensions arose between the two as the accused Akhil attempted to abandon Rakhi and marry a second time. This was also the reason for the murder, which was very much pre-planned, police say 

"From our investigations it is pretty clear that this is a pre-planned act. One week before the murder, the 3 accused men had dug up the pit where they had decided to dump her body. A thaali (wedding chain) from the deceased was found when the the body was retrieved," SI of Poovar police station told TNM. 

Strangled in the car

Police added that Rakhi was strangulated to death using a plastic rope which had been bought and kept prior to the murder. She was killed inside the accused's car. 

On June 21, Rakhi, who was an employee of a private cable company based in Ernakulam, had left her Thiruvananthapuram house on the pretext of going to work. Her father later identified CCTV visuals of Rakhi heading to the local bus stand. Here she was met by Akhil, who asked her to accompany him to see his newly constructed house in Amboori. 

"Inside the car, Akhil and Rahul had already kept a plastic rope ready. Once Rakhi got in the front seat, they strangulated her to death and took her body to bury inside the pit that was prepared," SI of Poovar station added. 

Several reports also state that the accused men had kept crystal salts to expedite the decomposing process. They even burnt the deceased's clothes before burying in order to avoid identification. 

Accused attempted to mislead cops 

Police also say that the accused persons had attempted to mislead investigating officials by fabricating false evidences. 

"They bought a new phone and used Rakhi's SIM card to send a message to Akhil's phone. The message said that she had planned to move to Chennai as she was close to another man who worked in the city. This was a deliberate attempt to distract police officers. The accused had also given a missed call to one of Rakhi's relatives," said an officer.

However, police were suspicious as no activity had been reported from the phone on June 21 and 23, when Rakhi had been missing. It was on June 24 that the messages and calls were made. 

On Saturday, Akhil's brother Rahul and second accused in the case was taken into custody and are currently being questioned for further evidence. The police also nabbed third accused Adarsh, who was Akhil's neighbour, on Thursday. 

The case has been updated with murder charge (section 302). Further sections will be added following the completion of investigations, officers told TNM. 

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