The main accused in Kerala’s infamous ‘couple swapping’ case died early morning on Monday, May 29, at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital where he was under treatment. The deceased Shino Mathew’s wife had lodged a complaint with the Kottayam district police in January last year, alleging that her husband forced her into sex with multiple people in a 'couple swapping' network for two years. She had since separated from Shino and started living in her parents’ house at Malam in Manarcad, where she was found hacked to death on May 19 this year. Shino allegedly attempted suicide after his wife was found murdered.
An officer from the Manarcad police station earlier told TNM that Shino, who is accused of killing his wife, had attempted to take his own life and was rushed to the hospital. He was first admitted to a private hospital in Changanassery, and was later transferred to the MCH after being taken into police custody. Since he was unconscious, the police were not able to find any leads, the officer said. The police had reportedly delayed questioning to wait for Shino’s condition to improve.
The complaint filed by Shino’s wife had led to the uncovering of a massive ‘couple swapping’ network with hundreds of members, who allegedly ‘exchanged’ their wives with each other. While some of these ‘exchanges’ were consensual, the others were not. People from across the state, including high-ranking officials, were allegedly found to be part of this network. The police had also made several arrests in the case, with the accused primarily hailing from three districts of Kerala — Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha. As per reports, those involved used social media groups to chat and gain consent to ‘swap’ spouses, and in some cases, money was also exchanged.