Youth held in Malayattoor woman murder case

A day after an 18-year-old student was found dead at Sebiyoor near Malayattoor, the Kalady police on Wednesday arrested 21-year-old friend of the girl on suspicion of murder.

The body of Chithrapriya, daughter of Shyju, Thuruthiparambil of Mundangamattom, Malayattoor, was found in an isolated rubber plantation on Tuesday (December 9, 2025), three days after she was reported missing.

The police said the body was identified by the girl’s family. Her friend, Alan, a native of Malayattoor, was taken into custody after police found CCTV footage of the duo riding a motorbike at Malayattoor Junction on the day the victim went missing.

His arrest was recorded on Wednesday (December 10, 2025) evening after a post-mortem examination, conducted at Government Medical College, Ernakulam, found severe head injuries as the cause of death, along with multiple other injuries on the victim’s body. They also recovered two rocks, weighing 2.5 kg and 4.5 kg, from the crime scene, suspected to have been used to fatally injure the victim. It is believed that the girl was murdered on Saturday (December 6, 2025) night.

The police said they suspected relationship issues as a possible trigger for the crime, while noting that a detailed investigation was needed to confirm this.

“Initial investigation suggests that the accused was driven by possessiveness, which prompted him to commit the crime. It appears to be a planned murder,” an officer with the Ernakulam Rural police said. Chithrapriya’s family filed a police complaint after she did not return from a shopping trip. She was a student in Bengaluru and had come home to attend a local temple festival.