She eloped with lover after killing husband; fearing arrest they attempted suicide
A woman from Kerala, who had eloped and attempted suicide at Panvel, has been arrested and sent to judicial custody on the charges of murder.
According to the police, Liji Kurien (29) from Santhampara and Waseem Abdul Khader (35) from Thrissur in Kerala had murdered Ms. Kurien’s husband Mulloor Rijosh and fled with his two-year-old child Johana.
The couple had reached Sameer lodge at Panvel on November 8 and attempted to end their lives on November 9. “We arrested Ms. Kurien last week after she was discharged from JJ Hospital. She was in police custody for a day after which she was sent to judicial custody. Mr. Khader who has been shifted from ICU may need a week to be discharged,” police sub-inspector Sarita Musale from Panvel City police station said.
Waseem Abdul Khader
The duo was booked for murdering Johana on November 10. Ms. Kurien told the police that they had first offered a banana laced with poison to the child. After making sure that the child was dead, the couple attempted to kill themselves.
They had not planned suicide but decided after they saw in the news that the Kerala Police had recovered the body of her husband and were looking out for them. “They realised that they would get caught eventually and had no other way,” Ms. Musale said. “She still sticks to her stand that she was not part of the murder of her husband and she eloped with Mr. Khader after he asked her to do so. Ms. Kurien has been demanding to see her family members. We contacted them but they refused to meet her and said they considered her as dead,” Ms. Musale said.
Ms. Kurien on October 31 had filed a missing person complaint of her husband and went missing herself after giving her primary statement. On November 5, Ms. Kurien’s brother filed a missing complaint after she could not be found. On November 7, the police recovered the half-burnt body of Rijosh from a pit in the farm of Mushroom Hut Resort in Kazhuthakkulamedu, where Ms. Kurien and Mr. Khader worked.
Ms. Kurien had been working at Mushroom Hut Resort for the last two years while Mr. Khader, a resident of Vallivattom, had been the manager for four years. Ms. Kurien had left her 12-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son in Kerala, and eloped carrying her two-year-old daughter. Once Mr. Khader gets discharged and arrested, the Kerala Police will take custody of them.
