A fourth person has been arrested in connection with the murder of 17-year-old Abhiram, who was lured through Instagram, beaten and strangled. His body was stuffed into a sack and abandoned in an isolated plot in Thiruvananthapuram.
Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala visited the victim's family at Pangappara in the district on Thursday. Calling the murder an extremely heinous crime, Chennithala said no other child in Kerala should suffer such a fate.
The fourth accused, identified as Aishwarya from Akkulam, was taken into custody on Wednesday night and formally arrested on Thursday. She is the girlfriend of another accused, Umar Muftar. Investigators suspect she was aware of the murder conspiracy and subsequent attempts to destroy evidence.
With this, four people, including a 17-year-old juvenile identified as the prime accused, are now in custody in connection with the murder.
Police say Abhiram was not the intended target and the main accused had planned to kill one of his friends over a relationship dispute involving his former girlfriend.
READ | Tamil Nadu Teen Gets Instagram Message. Day Later, His Body Found In Sack
Investigators revealed that the suspects used the Instagram account of 18-year-old Anantha, the main accused's current girlfriend, to lure Abhiram to an isolated location by pretending to show romantic interest in him.
Once Abhiram reached the spot, he was asked to summon the friend who was the actual target. However, the friend refused to come.
When Abhiram attempted to leave, the accused attacked him. Police say he was brutally beaten, gagged with a cloth, and strangled with a belt.
The accused then stuffed his body into a sack. Investigators believe they initially planned to dispose of the sack in a nearby waterbody but heavy rain forced them to abandon it in a vacant plot.
Killing
Abhiram, a Plus One student at NSS Higher Secondary School, Paruthippara, had left his rented home in Sangeetha Nagar around 3 pm on Sunday. He told his father, Madhukumar, that he was meeting friends and would return within ten minutes.
He never returned.
His body was discovered the following evening among banana plants in an isolated plot near a temple at Pangappara. The post-mortem examination indicated that he was killed between 6 pm and 8 pm on November 1.
Police initially arrested the main accused along with Umar Muftar and Anantha. Umar, a resident of Kallampally, has a criminal history involving theft, drug-related offences and assault. He had previously been detained under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act and was released on September 1.
The juvenile accused has been sent to an observation home until November 10.
A 16-member Special Investigation Team is probing the murder. Investigators are examining Instagram chats, call records and deleted digital evidence to establish the roles of those involved.
Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner Arul RB Krishna has said the murder was the result of a conspiracy planned over several days. Police are also examining whether more people were involved.
During his visit, Chennithala said the grieving family was satisfied with the police action so far. He also raised concerns over legal concessions available to juvenile offenders and suggested that amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act should be considered if necessary.
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