MISSING KILLER LADY DOCTOR OF KERALA

By T Kannamala (Southern Features)

A women medical doctor from Kerala has used her considerable medical and surgical skills to kill her man-friend, severed his limbs and partially disposed of the dismembered organs in a few places in Tamil Nadu. Thanks to the tip-off from a taxi driver, she was arrested, and the case is going on in a Coimbatore court.

The occasional stench of rotten flesh along the highways is not unusual. It could be from some stray animals that indiscreetly running across the busy roads and getting killed. But taxi driver Raja of Kodaikanal sensed something amiss, when foul smell continued to pervade his vehicle, ever since the Kanyakumari bound vivacious lady engaged his vehicle and loaded two suitcases in the boot.

After suffering the stench for some time, the driver stopped the vehicle and insisted on taking a look at the luggage. After initial pleadings and threats, the Passenger Doctor Omana Edadan of Payyanoor, Kerala, spilled the beans.

The items in the luggage formed parts of the dismembered parts of a man.

Raja lost no time to report the matter to the Kodaikanal Police station.

The police promptly registered the case on July 13, 1996 under IPC section 302 (murder) and arrested the doctor.

Driver Raja in his complaint said the woman had engaged his Omni van TN 67 Y1616  to go to Kanyakumari.  She placed two suit cases and two travellers’ bags in  the vehicle.  While on the way to Kanyakumari, near Shenbaganoor he confronted the woman regarding the contents of the suit case and after initial hesitation and protests, she admitted that it was a human body.

Background: Doctor Omana in a statement to police said she was married to one Dr.  Radhakrishnan and had two children. While they were leading a happy family life in Kerala, the villain entered the scene in the form of an architect, Muralidhharan. They developed physical intimacy, and the news soon spread across her friends and family circles. That was the end of her family life.

Unable to find a peaceful life in Kerala, Omana went to Malaysia and took up job as an Ophthalmologist. But Muraleedharan was unwilling to give up the `friendship’. He pursued her to Malaysia and insisted on continuing the relationship.

As Muraleedharan made her life miserable in Malaysia too, she decided to get rid of him once for all. She asked Muraleedharan to return to Kerala and the matter could be settled, when she visited her native place next time. The murder plan was scripted much before she left the shores of Malaysia for Kerala.

Investigation by the Crime Branch CID, Nilgiri revealed that Dr. Omana Edadan hailed from a middle class family and her brothers were holding high positions.  She was a brilliant student and after graduating in Medicine, got married to a Paediatrician Radhakrishnan and had two children.

During this time, she wanted some renovation work to be carried out on her house and approached one diploma architect Muraleedharan of same village of Payyanoor.  Subsequently they developed illicit intimacy, and due to which, her husband separated her, taking his children with him.

Muraleedharan was married and had two children.  She was very fond of him for his sexual favours, but the relationship turned sour when Muraleedharan used opportunity collect money and jewels from her.  Omana agreed to his growing demands, if he separated from his wife and children.  Muraleedharan wanted only a casual relationship.

As the situation became too hot for her in the native village, she left for Malaysia and joined a local hospital as an ophthalmologist. Muraleedharan agreed to join her and settle with her, unknown to the rest of the family and friends.

Accordingly, Omana changed her name as Ameena Binde Arabdullah and advised Muraleedharan to take a Muslim name. So he approached one Syed Ali at Chennai and changed his name and got certificate in the new avatar. He went to Malaysia in the new name and stayed with Omana as her husband.

Again, things took a bitter turn when Muraleedharan started demanding more money and jewels.  Omana refused his demands. He returned to India and started contacting her frequently over phone and threatened to expose her to the Malaysian police.

The murder plan was hatched at this point. She decided to eliminate him without anyone’s knowledge and return to Malaysia in seven days.

Murder Plot executed: Omana landed at Thiruvananthapuram and went to his brother’s house, kept her luggage and her jewels in the house. She purchased some vials of Pentothal sodium, syringe and needle at Thiruvananthapuram.  Her sister in law had reserved ticket for Omana to Coimbatore.  But Omana cancelled her ticket and reserved another ticket in the name of “Taju” of New Delhi and reached Ooty with one traveller bag.  She booked room No.4 in the name of Hema, New Delhi at Ooty Railway retiring Room, after casual talks with the railway staff that the Police rarely checked railway retiring rooms.

Earlier, she had visited a few other lodges, and sought a cottage.  But she was told that cottages were not let out to single woman during the off season.  So she booked one room for three days at IGGI Resort, Fern hills, seven kms away from Ooty town in the name of Rose Mary, New Delhi on July 9, 1996.

At IGGI resorts, she left one bag and kept the Room key with her. Then she went to bazaar and purchased suit cases, bags and polythene covers. She engaged a taxi on July 10, 1996 for Calicut, always speaking only Hindi to conceal her identity. On the way to Calicut, she contacted Muraleedharan from one roadside STD phone Booth at Edakkara and asked him to come to Calicut without informing anybody, and receive the money and jewels. She also suggested spending a few days with him, which he gladly accepted.

On receiving this message from Omana, Muraleedharan informed his family that he was going to Coimbatore on business.  At Calicut she picked him up at Diplomatic lodge and on her suggestion, left for Ooty.  On return travel she did not have any conversation with him as he did not know Hindi.

The two went straight to IGGI resort and spent the night.  Next day morning she came to Railway retiring room with him and a bag.  She took him to a star hotel with bar attached, and threw an excellent supper. In the night they returned to the Railway retiring room.

As Muraleedharan wanted physical intimacy, the doctor suggested that a special injection with her would improve his performance.

He happily subjected himself to a large dose of the injection, and died within minutes. She dragged the body to the dressing room near the bath room, stripped and mutilated it into pieces.  She took the fleshy portion and put them into the commode.  As it got blocked, she packed the remaining portions of the body  into polythene covers and cleaned entire bath room and dressing room.  When she was doing the dissection, she had thoughtfully fixed a cloth screen on the glass windows to block any view from outside.

Next day morning on July 12 she vacated the room, engaged a taxi and loaded the two suit cases, and two traveller bags in it. She got one hour permission from the station master to hand over the key, she went to IGGI Resort and vacated the room.

She returned to the railway station, handed over the key to the station master and left for  Coimbatore.  The one hour delay in handing over the key was to ensure that the railway staff did not inspect the room before she left the place.

She reached Coimbatore railway station in the evening, engaged another taxi at railway station and went to Gandhipuram Mangala International and booked a room at first floor in the name of Mumtaz. In the lodge, she opened the Polythene covers and dropped flesh portions in the commode, and that too got blocked.  So she dropped the plan, sprayed costly perfumes to the body remnants kept in the suitcase to suppress the stench.

As she knew that there is a place, “suicide point” at “Coker’s walk” in Kodaikanal, she planned to go there and throw all the remaining parts in to the valley. So next day morning, she engaged a taxi and proceeded to Kodaikanal and checked into a  lodge, with the name  “Sara” from New Delhi.  There she expected to burn the fleshes by using chimney.  But there was no such a provision in the lodge, So she vacated the room in a short while.

At Kodaikanal town taxi stand she disposed of the taxi from Coimbatore and engaged a new taxi at Kodaikanal.  She went to “Coker’s walk – Suicide point” and there she tried to dispose of the suitcases and bags with remnants of the body.  But week-end crowds foiled the plan. So she decided to go to Kanyakumari. Meanwhile the Coimbatore taxi was punctured, and she engaged the Omni van with driver Raja. She did not allow Raja to shift   the luggage from the taxi to the van.  She herself loaded them, and the vehicle left the place. A short while later, unable to bear the overwhelming stench, the driver stopped the vehicle and sought to know what was in the boot. She confessed to the crime, and offered him a fabulous amount, if he helped her to dispose of the body.

The driver promised to help her, and took the vehicle straight to the Kodaikanal police station.

Forensic Evidence: During post mortem at Madurai Medical college Hospital the skeletons were united and found that the body was that of a six foot tall male, about 45 years. In the remaining flesh portions packed in the polythene covers the palm portions of both hands were found from which the finger prints of the dead body was taken and was later identified.

During post-mortem small portions of kidney, liver, lungs and heart were found in highly decomposed condition in Polythene coves.

A blood stained Churidar and top were seized from the traveller’s bag which was worn by Omana during the time of murder and mutilation of the body.

Blood stains were traced in the Bath room and dressing room where the body was chopped into pieces. Knives, Chopper etc. were seized from the bags of accused. Photographs of the decease Muraleedharan in various poses were collected for comparison and were sent to Anthropology Division, FSL Chenna along with the skull.

Finger Prints of Deceased Muraleedharan were collected from Trissur, Registrar Office, where  Omana and Muraleedharan had registered their marriage earlier.

And another finger print was collected from the Registrar Office Payyanoor where one land was registered in the name of deceased Muraleedharan. 

One right thumbs impression was collected from the Registrar at Chennai maintained by the Syed Ali, who is giving conversion Certificate of Muslim, where Muraleedharan had converted his name as Muslim and there he put his Right thumb impression.

Omana’s handwriting samples were collected from Thiruvananthapuram reservation Office, Ooty Railway Station, IGGI Restaurant Fern Hills, Mariyala International, Siva Priya lodge at Kodaikanal for sample signatures, hand writings. Her college note books were seized for opinion of document experts on handwriting and were sent to document division FSL Chennai.

*Chemical analysis report confirmed the presence of Ethyl Alcohol and barbiturate in the viscera.

* It was also proved from the further opinion of Professor Forensic Medicine  Madurai Medical College, Madurai that the presence of Alcohol at high level and barbiturate would cause immediate death of a person.

*Skull and photo graphs were sent to Anthropology department and from the report it is found that the skull was of Muraleedharan.

* Document expert also given positive report about her hand writings at various places.

*From the report of Single Digit Finger Print, Chennai found that the Finger Prints taken at the time of post mortem had tallied with the left and Right Thumbs impressions of Muraleedharan.

*To prove the presence of accused at Railway Retiring Room, Ooty, the identification parade was conducted at Central Prison Coimbatore and witnesses had identified Omana.

*Two duplicate passports and some letters found in the office of Muraleedharan at Payyanoor were also seized.

All evidence pointed to a pre-meditated, gruesome murder. Omana Edadan planned the short visit to India. Air tickets showed that she left Malaysia on July 7, 1996, with return ticket for July 14.  According to Inspector C.Kanagaraj, who investigated the case, Omana, during her college days at Calicut Medical College, was closely associated with one Ajitha a CPI (ML) cadre at the time.  She also sought the assistance of CPI (ML) cadres for her escape from India by getting false passport, as her original Passport was impounded at Ooty District Court.

After being in the jail for five years, she obtained bail in 2001, and nothing was heard of her ever since.

Twist in the tale: In the last week of October 2017, a woman had committed suicide in Malaysia jumping from a high rise building. Suspecting that it was the absconding woman killer from Kerala, the Indian High Commission there had published her pictures in Malayalam news channels seeking information about the deceased. Though some of the relatives of Dr Omana thought the photograph of the disfigured body resembled her, a family from Trivandrum had identified it as Merlin Ruby, 37, from Chinnathurai. With the help of overseas Malayali associations’, the body was brought to her native place, and buried in a Cemetery at Valiathurai. She was working at an Electronic shop in Selangor, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur.