KOCHI: The police probing the unearthing of a skeleton in a drum at Kumbalam, near here, on January 8 have stumbled on the case of a woman who went missing from Udayamperoor a few years ago. The police had recovered a screw used in surgery from the skeleton. A team of forensic experts led by police surgeon Dr Unmesh, after performing autopsy on the skeleton, had identified that it belonged to a woman who had undergone surgery on her left leg.
Thrikkakara police assistant commissioner P.P. Shams told DC on Thursday that, except for this woman, the police had traced the five others who had used the special type of screw in surgery. The screw recovered from the skeleton and used in the surgeries in these six persons at the same hospital in Tripunithura bear the same batch also. "We are now focusing on the missing woman, but it is too early to conclude anything as several others in other hospitals too had used the same type of screw in orthopaedic surgery. We are trying to pinpoint the people who have used the screw in the same batch number and we are moving to other hospitals too to arrive at the right conclusion," Mr Shams said.
Only a few hairs and a torn piece of cloth remained in the body which was found dumped in a plastic drum filled with concrete and bricks near Santivanam at Kumbalam. "For the skeleton, we followed an entirely different set of protocols. Techniques such as forensic facial reconstruction were used and the findings were handed over to the investigation team. It includes possible feature of the victim for helping the cops to identify the body," said forensic sources.
Forensic experts had informed the investigation team that the body is that of a woman in her thirties. They were also told about the possibility of the victim being subjected to brutal murder. It is learnt that the woman from Udayamperoor had secured divorce from her husband and left the place saying that she was leaving for Mumbai. Her relatives are learnt to have told police that she had since not contacted her mother. There are indications that the police may conduct a DNA test of her daughter to unravel the mystery behind the skeleton. The screw was fixed on her leg when she underwent surgery after an accident years ago at the hospital, which the police identified in the investigation.
