A woman from Kunnamkulam in Thrissur allegedly killed her mother by adding rat poison in her tea. The police revealed that she unsuccessfully tried to poison her father too.
The victim, identified as Rugmini (58), wife of Chandran of Kizhoor, near Kunnamkulam, was admitted to a hospital on last Monday after she started vomiting continuously. She was later shifted to a hospital in Thrissur where she died.
Doctors who grew suspicious about the cause of death informed the police. A post-mortem examination revealed the presence of poison in her body. The police registered a case of unnatural death on Wednesday and interrogated the family members.
During the interrogation, Chandran told the police that his wife collapsed after drinking a cup of tea given by their elder daughter Indulekha. He did not drink the tea as he detected a change in its taste. Chandran also raised doubts about the role of 39-year-old Indulekha in the death of his wife.
The police, who checked the search history in the mobile phone of Indulekha found that she had been widely searching for ‘dangerous poisons’ and ‘how to poison people to death’. During interrogation, she confessed that she added poison meant to kill rats in the tea of her parents. It was Indulekha herself who took Rugmini to the hospital when she collapsed after consuming the tea. She told the police that she tried to kill her parents to get their property.
Chandran, who used to sell toys at festival grounds, and Rugmini, who worked in a small shop, owned a house in a 14-cent land at Kizhoor.
It is also reported that it was not Indulekha’s first attempt to kill her parents. She had once added poison used to kill cockroaches to their food. However, she was not successful in her attempt.
It is reported that Indulekha had pledged her ornaments and had taken a loan of ₹10 lakh without the awareness of her husband who is working in the Gulf. As her husband has returned home on leave, she wanted to dispose of the loan after selling the property of her parents. Indulekha is reportedly the nominee of the property.
Indulekha told the police that she took the extreme step as her parents refused to change the property to her name. She has been remanded in judicial custody.
