Kerala: Convicted maid in housewife murder arrested after 27 years

The convicted maid ion the Alappuzha house wife murder case gave a slip to the Kerala Police and living under a false name in Ernakulam district, Reji. She was arrested by a Special Investigation Team after 27 years of her conviction and 33 years of murder that she 'committed' with a kitchen knife.

Alappuzha (Kerala) : A woman accused, who has been absconding in a housewife murder case, was finally arrested after 27 years of her conviction. The case was related to the murder of a housewife named Mariamma (61) in Mavelikara Alappuzha district, Kerala. Mavelikkara police arrested the accused Reji on Sunday. She was living in Pothanikkad Pallarimangalam panchayat of Ernakulam district under the false name of Mini Raju.

The murder took place on February 21, 1990. Mariamma was found murdered inside the house. The cause of death was a deep cut on the neck of Mariamma with a knife used in the kitchen. The suspect who stole Mariamma's gold chain cut off the ear and removed the ring. Mariamma was stabbed nine times.

At first, no one believed that Reji, who was a servant of Mariamma as well as considered her own daughter, had committed the murder. Reji was arrested during the subsequent investigation. In 1993, the Mavelikkara Additional District Sessions Court acquitted Reji, giving the benefit of the doubt. Then on 11 September 1996, the High Court sentenced her to life imprisonment in an appeal filed by the prosecution.

Reji absconded within hours of the verdict. After that, searches were conducted in Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala to find Reji, but they went in vain. Then the Mavelikkara Additional District and Sessions Court issued a warrant for the arrest of the accused in the case 33 years after the murder and 27 years after the conviction. Subsequently, a special investigation team was formed under the leadership of Chengannur DYSP MK Binukumar and included Mavelikkara Police Inspector C. Sreejith, Senior Civil Police Officers Unnikrishna Pillai, Muhammad Shafique and Arun Bhaskar.

It was found that before Reji went absconding, she worked as a maid in several places in the Kottayam district under the name Mini and after marrying a construction worker from Tamil Nadu, she went to Tamil Nadu. After the investigation, it was found that Reji was staying with his family in Ernakulam under the name of Mini Raju. The SIT reached there and arrested Reji.