Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram district has been rocked by a tragedy after a 27-year-old woman was found dead in her husband's house. Police are investigating the cause of the death, which happened just two days after the couple's second wedding anniversary.
The deceased is Vigneshwari (27), wife of Abhilash. She was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a bedroom on the first floor of their home, Podiyanivila House, near Vizhinjam Community Health Centre.
According to family members, no one else was in the house at the time of the incident. Abhilash’s father, Chandran, came home at 6 p.m. and found the house locked from the inside. The repeated phone calls to Vigneshwari were unanswered, and Chandran grew suspicious.
With the help of a neighbour, he broke a window to look inside the house and reportedly found Vigneshwari hanging from the ceiling fan. Neighbors and family members immediately forced open the front door and rushed her to a nearby hospital.
But doctors declared her dead on arrival. Family members said that she had probably died several hours before she was brought to the hospital, according to medical personnel.
The family and residents were shocked, particularly because the couple had celebrated their second wedding anniversary only a couple of days earlier. Chandran said there were no apparent disputes or marital issues between the couple. He said the family had celebrated the anniversary together and had not seen anything unusual in Vigneshwari's behaviour.
Meanwhile, Abhilash's mother, Jayalakshmi, was away from home and had been staying with her daughter in Chennai for the last four months. That meant only Vigneshwari and Abhilash were in the house at the time of the incident.
Police officials have started questioning Abhilash as part of the investigation. Questions to family members and close relatives are standard procedure in cases of unnatural deaths and not a sign of wrongdoing, the authorities said.
Investigators have taken Vigneshwari’s mobile phone for forensic examination. Forensic examiners are expected to examine the call records, messages, and other digital evidence to gain a sense of her activities and communication before her death.
Police said more clarity about what caused the incident could emerge after recording statements from the victim's family. Vigneshwari's mother is expected to arrive from Nagercoil to give her statement, and investigators hope it will shed light on whether there were personal, family, or other issues that may be relevant to the case.
Vigneshwari was the daughter of Nagarajan and Kala, natives of Nagercoil in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
The Vizhinjam Police have registered a case of unnatural death and initiated a detailed investigation. The post-mortem examination report, forensic examination, and witness accounts are pending before any conclusions on the cause and circumstances of her death.
Police have asked people not to talk about or share unverified information on social media in the course of the investigation. The cause of death and contributing factors will be identified based on evidence collected during the investigation.
