SIT arrests parents, friend of key accused in Kothamangalam woman’s death case

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the death of a 23-year-old woman at Kothamangalam has arrested the parents and a friend of the key accused in the case. The arrested are Rahimon Yousuf, 47, of Thoppil, Panayikulam, and his wife Abdul Sahad, both parents of Rameez who has been remanded, and his friend Abdul Sahad, 25.

The trio were arrested from a lodge near Salem in Tamil Nadu on Monday morning. They have been charged with Section 108 (abetment to suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a police officer said. The police were yet to get Rameez in custody for further interrogation.

Rameez and his parents were named in the note reportedly written by the victim who was found dead in her house at Kothamangalam on August 9. Rameez was arrested based on certain allegations in the note, a day after the woman’s death.

The SIT was constituted after the police came under pressure as the kin of the victim and right-wing political parties alleged that the woman was a victim of attempted forcible religious conversion. Rameez was booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 69 (sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means etc), 108 (abetment to suicide), and 115 (voluntarily causing hurt).

Suicide Prevention Helpline: DISHA – 1056, Maithri – 0484-2540530