Kerala: Alleged wife killer remanded

Thrissur: The man accused of burning alive his estranged wife at Chengalur, Puthukkad,  was brought here from Mumbai on Saturday morning and remanded  in judicial custody by the Irinjalakuda Magistrate’s  Court. The accused Biraj, 40, who works as a fitter in a Gulf country,  had set his wife on fire after pouring petrol on her as she was coming out of a Kudumbasree meeting last Sunday.

The couple were living separate after filing mutual divorce petitions. The victim Jeethu, 29, had a relationship with another man whom she came to know through Facebook.  Jeethu who suffered 80 percent burns died at Thrissur MCH on Tuesday. SHO S.P. Sudheeran  of  Puthukkad police station,  who questioned the accused  on Saturday,  said that  only Biraj was involved in the crime. “He was upset over the relationship of his wife and the matters that led to filing the mutual divorce petition,” he said.

The cops are investigating about those who allegedly assisted Biraj to escape to his relative’s house in Mumbai after committing the crime. The victim’s father  Janardhana told Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, who visited his house on Saturday, that his daughter was asked to attend the Kudumbasree meeting to pay her dues and that it was a trap to kill her. The police should probe   how the accused came to know that the victim was attending such a meeting at that time, he said.   Mr Chennithala  said that he would take up the matter with DGP Loknath Behera.