Sulekha was sleeping on the floor of her house in Thrissur district on Sunday morning when her estranged husband Yusuf allegedly broke into the house and killed her with a machete. Sulekha, aged 52, died after a single blow.
After committing the crime, 56-year-old Yusuf ran out of the back door of the house in Cherai near Punnayoorkulam, a village in Thrissur, and fled all the way to Malappuram where he worked. He was caught by the police and taken to Chavakkad sub jail, said Pradeep, Sub Inspector of Police in Vadakkekkad, under which Punnayoorkulam falls. Yusuf has been charged under sections 450 (house trespass in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment for life) and 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
“They were living separately after having some issues. Sulekha was living with her mother and Yusuf was not allowed inside the house. On Sunday morning, Sulekha’s mother had stepped out of the house to sweep the front yard when Yusuf was lurking somewhere close by. He was hiding in the premises since midnight. When the mother moved to the back yard, he broke open a roof tile and got into the verandah at the front. The mother had only locked the grill outside the verandah, not the front door inside it. So Yusuf walked into the house from the verandah, saw Sulekha sleeping on the hall and stabbed her with the machete,” Pradeep told TNM.
The couple had some issues in the past and both had brought complaints against each other to the police. “Since it was a family issue, we called them both to the station. Yusuf claimed that he built the house that Sulekha was staying in, with his money and now he was not permitted inside. The house is in Sulekha’s name. The couple has three children – two sons and a daughter, all of whom are married and live separately with their families.”
The police had sent the couple home, telling them to take the matter to court. That was two months ago. “After that, Yusuf had once again asked to be permitted to stay in at least one room of the house but Sulekha did not agree,” police added.