KOLLAM: A person beat his wife to death for hiding a liquor bottle he had brought to their house at Kottarakkara and then attempted suicide on Sunday night. She was identified as Jyothi Lakshmi, 40, wife of Sreedharan, Kalabhavan, Thekkekkara, Mylom in Kottarakkara. Sreedharan, a carpenter, and Jyothi Lakshmi, who worked in a nearby cashew factory, used to drink together in their single-room hut where they were living for the last 20 years, said the police.
On Sunday night, Sreedharan came home drunk and had brought a bottle with him, which Jyothi Lakshmi hid in the house. When he demanded it, she refused to give it and quarrelled over his excessive drinking habit. Sreedharan allegedly kicked her in her stomach and assaulted her. He later slept off but woke up hearing his wife asking for water.
She soon died and Sreedharan, after consuming poison, surrendered before the Kottarakkara police around 1.30 a.m. He was admitted to the Kottarakkara taluk hospital. Sreedharan also used to collect gold dust by filtering the soil near jewelleries. They have two daughters. The elder Kala is married to a person in Enath while the younger Sreelekha is a fourth standard student.
