Kochi: Man kills wife over phone calls

Kochi: A husband allegedly choked his wife to death at Kannamaly here on Friday after getting suspicious of her frequent use of mobile phone.

The cops took Xavier, 67, into custody on charges of murdering his wife Shely, 44, from their house at Kuthirakoorkkari at 5.30 am after the suspect himself rang up the police station and confessed to the crime.

The two used to quarrel frequently over the victim using mobile phone. The Kannamaly police had even arranged counselling for the couple to iron out their issues.

“The couple is believed to have gone to bed on Thursday at around 11 pm. The husband woke up at some point of time and according to his confession, saw his wife fiddling with the mobile phone. His questioning didn’t go down well with the latter who reportedly asked him to mind his own business. The row ended with the husband smothering his wife with a hand-woven towel. The incident occurred sometime between 2 am and 6 am,” a senior police official said.

The couple’s 19-year-old son Unni was sleeping in the next room when it all happened but came to know about it only when the police came to the house. He reportedly heard the mother’s cries but was told by the father that everything was fine and he remained in his room.

Last week, Xavier had filed a complaint with the Mattancherry assistant commissioner that his wife was missing. When the cops called her up on phone, she replied that she had gone to Palakkad in search of a job and would return that night itself. The duo was called to the station the next day and were subjected to counselling by an expert.