Death of tribal woman in Idukki found to be case of murder

The post-mortem examination of a tribal woman in Idukki has revealed that her death, initially believed to be a case of wild elephant attack, was in fact a case of murder allegedly committed by her husband.

The initial inference was that Seetha, 42, a resident of Thottappura under the Murinjapuzha forest station, was killed in a wild elephant attack in the Meenmutty reserve forest area on Friday.

Her husband, Binu, claimed that the family had gone to the forest along with their children to collect forest produce and was trapped in front of a wild elephant that attacked her.

Kottayam Divisional Forest Officer N. Rajesh said a preliminary examination found that the injuries on the woman’s body were not from a wild elephant attack.

“Binu had also said that he was attacked by the tusker but there were no injury marks on his body. The Forest department reported our findings to the doctor and the police. In addition, the department also confirmed no wild elephants were present in the area on Friday,” he said.

“Due to our suspicion, the department did not provide the first instalment of compensation meant for human-wildlife conflict victims on Friday. The investigation in the case has been handed over to the police,” said Mr. Rajesh.

Sources said the primary post-mortem examination findings were that the woman had suffered brutal physical assault. “In the attack, her ribs broke and punctured her lungs. She had suffered blunt force injury to her head. It is also suspected that she fell on a rock and was dragged some distance,” the report says.

Peerumade Deputy Superintendent of Police Vishal Johnson said the police were investigating the case, adding that they were yet to receive the postmortem examination report. “The police have not taken the suspect into custody. Further details will be available after a detailed probe and on getting a copy of the postmortem examination report,” he said.

Published - June 14, 2025 08:03 pm IST