Police say 30-year-old was killed by her husband and his three relatives, who dumped her body in a septic chamber at their residence

For 15 years, a Kerala village believed that a young mother had eloped with her lover. But on Wednesday, police made a revelation that came as a surprise to residents of Thripperumthura in Alappuzha – the 30-year-old woman, Kala, had been murdered, allegedly by her husband Anil Kumar, and her body dumped into the septic chamber at their house.

The arrest of Jinu Gopalan, R Somarajan and Pramod, all natives of Thripperumthura village, were made after police opened the septic chamber at Kumar’s house to collect evidence to corroborate the statements of the accused that Kala’s body had been dumped there.

The SP said that though Kala had been missing, nobody filed a missing person complaint. “The case emerged after Ambalapuzha police looked into an anonymous letter that dropped hints about the murder. It was credible information but we don’t want to reveal more about that letter at this stage,” she said.