A woman in Kerala who was rescued from a locked car last month after being abandoned there for two days died at Kottayam Medical College Hospital on Tuesday evening.
On January 17, a few local auto-rickshaw drivers in Adimali of Idukki district noticed that a Maruti Alto car had been parked by the roadside for the past two days. When they went to check, they found 55-year-old Lailamani, who was paralysed on one side, abandoned inside the locked car, without food or water.
They immediately dialled the police. Lailamani was rescued and was rushed to the Taluk hospital in Adimali. Lailamani's clothes, some vessels, a few documents and the keys of the car were also retrieved from the vehicle. Later, she was shifted to Kottayam Medical College Hospital for further treatment.
Lailamani was partially paralysed and she struggled to speak. She later told the police that her husband, Mathew, had abandoned her. In her statement, Lailamani said that Mathew had told her that they were going to meet their son Manjith, who stays in Idukki district’s Kattappana.
“However, on the way, Mathew stopped the car and stepped out. He told her he would be back after urinating, but he did not return. We haven't found him yet," a city police officer from Adimali station told TNM.
The next day, after the media reported the incident, Lailamani's son Manjith reached Adimali to meet her. Manjith told the police that this was not the first time that Mathew had tried to abandon her.
"As per the information given by her son, Mathew was her second husband and he had tried to abandon her earlier as well. A few years ago, he abandoned her near her daughter's residence in Thiruvananthapuram. She then began to stay with her daughter, Manju. Later, Mathew apologised and took her back with him. They were living in Wayanad," the police officer said.
According to the police, Lailamani and Mathew, who is a resident of Wayanad, got married in 2014. Eighteen months ago, Mathew sold their property in Wayanad and the couple had been living in rented houses since then. A few weeks before she was abandoned, Lailamani also reportedly had undergone surgery.
From the time she was rescued in January, Lailamani had been undergoing treatment at the Kottaram Medical College Hospital. However, on Tuesday evening, she passed away. The cause of death is yet to be ascertained.
The police, meanwhile, are on the lookout for Mathew, who is absconding