A 52-year-old woman was stabbed to death by her daughter’s stalker in her home at Kulathupuzha in Kollam district on Tuesday. Police say that the victim Marykutty Varghese was alone at home when Satheesh, who is from Madurai, tried to enter the house. He had befriended Marykutty’s daughter Lissa online but had never met her, say the police.
A police official at Kulathupuzha police station told TNM, “They were Facebook friends first. They had been chatting and conducting WhatsApp calls with each other until last month. When this was discovered and opposed in her home, she blocked him on WhatsApp and Facebook. They had never met each other [in real life]. He came to Kulathupuzha in order to see her.”
Lissa, a nurse working in Mumbai, had expressed her desire to cut contact with him and had blocked him on social media. Police say that Satheesh was unaware that she was not at her parent’s home in Kulathupuzha, and arrived at the house on Tuesday pretending to be a delivery boy.
“He came to the house pretending to be a parcel service employee. Under this guise, he delivered a turkey to the house, and when he was about to leave, he said that he wants to meet the daughter. Marykutty said it was not possible and that she was in Mumbai, and to stop bothering them. He insisted that he would leave only after meeting her.”
Believing Lissa was inside the house, he allegedly tried to force his way in. The police official continued, “He came with a certain kind of intention. He wanted to meet her face-to-face. If she did not agree to meet him or continue to speak with him, he was planning to threaten or get rid of her: he came prepared, having brought a knife along with him.”
“When Marykutty tried to stop him from entering the house, he stabbed her. She died almost immediately, on the way to the hospital,” added the police official.
Marykutty is survived by her daughter Lissa, and husband P K Varghese, who is an NRI.
Satheesh was arrested and booked under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 449 (house trespassing in order to commit offence).