An 18-year-old domestic help brutally kills her sexagenarian employer in 1990. Six years later, convicted by the Kerala High Court and sentenced to life in prison, Reji alias Achamma seems to vanish in thin air before she can be punished. Twenty-seven years later, her luck runs out. On Monday, two days after she was caught by the police, Reji stepped into the central prison in Thiruvananthapuram, leaving behind a life she had built under an alias – Mini. It was on February 21, 1990 that 61-year-old Mariyamma was found dead at her house at Mankamkuzhy village in Alappuzha district. Her husband Kuzhiparambil Thekkethil Pappachan, a vegetable vendor, and three children were away. The assailant had robbed her gold ornaments, and chopped her ear, ostensibly to take away the earring. She had multiple stab injuries, including a fatal one on the neck. The needle of suspicion fell on the couple’s distant relative Reji, who had been staying with them and helping Mariyamma with chores, as well as learning typewriting nearby. A few days before the murder, they had shown Reji the door over some issues, and on the day of the crime, a neighbour had seen her leaving the house. Reji eventually confessed to the murder and police recovered the stolen ornaments from her home at Arunoottimangalam in Alappuzha. The additional sessions court at Mavelikkara acquitted Reji in 1993, giving the benefit of doubt. However, the prosecution moved an appeal in the High Court which, on September 11, 1996, set aside the trial court verdict and awarded life sentence. And thus began Reji’s life as a fugitive. According to police sources, Reji left her home a day after the High Court verdict. “Someone in the village who read about the order told her. She packed her clothes and left. In those days, court orders used to reach police stations by post. By the time the order reached us, she was in the wind,” said an officer. Even as the trial court repeatedly issued warrants against her, police struggled to find her whereabouts. While the search for Reji was underway in Alappuzha, at nearby Kottayam, the woman, who had studied until class 10, was getting a makeover as Mini. According to Chengannur Deputy Police Superintendent M K Binukumar, investigators searched not just within the state but also in Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh. A special probe team was formed six months ago following repeated reminders from the trial court. Binukumar, who headed the team, said they did not have much to go on, other than her old address and a few paper clippings with photographs taken at the time of her arrest. “Police started examining the case file and gathering details from relatives and village locals. Some said Reji had moved to Mumbai, others believed she was in an orphanage. But nobody had seen her after she went into hiding. There were also rumours that she had died after contracting Covid-19. To ascertain that, we checked the data on virus victims, those vaccinated, and unknown deaths. But nothing came out of that exercise,” he said. Adding to the police challenge was the fact that Reji had not maintained relations with any family member after her conviction. As the special team studied her case diary in detail, they noticed that one of the investigators had made a vague indication that Reji used to work in Kottayam. “After the court verdict in 1996, Reji went into hiding and started working as a domestic help in Kottayam. She was then known as Mini. She fell in love, and in 1999, got married to a construction worker from Tamil Nadu. The couple eventually moved to Pallarimangalam in Kerala’s Ernakulam. There, at Adivad village, she had been working as a salesperson in a textile shop for the last five years,” said a senior officer. To avoid being identified, Reji was cautious not to travel outside her village, and would stay off social media. “At the textile shop in Adivad, there were only two salespersons, including Reji. After confirming her identity, two policemen entered the shop posing as shoppers when the owner was out. While looking for shirt pieces, they asked her name. She identified herself as Mini. When a police officer responded that her name was Reji, she was stunned. The two told her they were policemen. She did not even react. Without making a scene, the policemen asked her to come out, and she obeyed,” said the officer. Pallarimangalam panchayat vice-president O E Abbas said Reji and her husband have been living at Adivad village for more than two decades. “All of us knew Mini and her husband. There was nothing suspicious about her behaviour. She was social, and easily mingled with everyone. Before working as a salesgirl, she eked out a living by working at various houses. The couple have two children – the elder one is a trainee with the defence forces, while the other one studies abroad. Raju also worked in the Middle East for some time. For several years, they lived in a rented house at Adivad. Five years ago, they got a new house under a government scheme,’’ said Abbas. At Mankamkuzhy village, Mariyamma’s husband Pappachan died seven years ago at the age of 94. The couple’s eldest son, K E Yohannan, who returned from the Middle East, now stays at the house. He recalled: “My mother was very lenient towards Reji and her family. She was our distant relative, and she lost her mother during childhood. Her elder sister also stayed with my parents for several years…. I don’t know why my mother asked her to leave the house. There may have been some serious issue, which only my mother knew.”
