Bodies of Kerala techie couple found in Bengaluru, families to be questioned

Police in Bengaluru are set to probe the families of a couple from Kerala whose decomposed bodies were found on November 29. The couple had gone missing a few weeks ago. The couple, Abhijit Mohan (25 years old), hailing from Agali in Palakkad and Srilakshmi (21 years old), hailing from Mala in Thrissur district, were working with an IT major in Electronic City in Bengaluru. Their death came to light only when a shepherd found their highly decomposed bodies on November 29 and alerted the police. Hebbagodi police in rural Bengaluru district have so far registered only a case of unnatural death. The exact time and cause of their death is yet to be ascertained. Speaking to TNM, the investigating officer Shankar M, said, “The couple went missing 40 days ago from the Parappana Agrahara police station jurisdiction where they were both staying. The family of the woman filed a missing persons complaint in this station. Three days ago we found the bodies from the bushes in the Chintala Madiwala area in Anekal taluk. Their bodies were found near the bushes in an open area. Both bodies were highly decomposed.” Abhijit and Srilakshmi were staying in different paying guest accommodations in Parappana Agrahara Police Station limits near the Central Jail. According to reports, her family had opposed the marriage and also threatened action against Abhijit. But her family spoke to TNM and staunchly denied this. "They are both the same case, so that itself was fake news. How can we oppose a marriage when we did not even know about his existence? We got to know about him when she disappeared," Srilakshmi's uncle told TNM. A report in a newspaper on Sunday said that Srilakshmi had sent a message to her maternal uncle on November 23 thanking the family for all the torture. The family denied that such a message was ever recieved and added that the dead bodies were more than a month old. "The dead bodies are more than a month old, they died soon after they disappeared, we presume. How can she send a message in November then?" The Deputy Commissioner of Anekal confirmed to TNM that the bodies were more than a month old and were highly decomposed.  The last call that Srilakshmi made to her family was on October 9. On October 11, the couple went missing. Based on a missing person’s complaint from Srilakshmi’s family, police had tried to trace their mobile phone locations, but failed. Even meeting their friends and colleagues yielded no results. The couple were reportedly moving locations and lived in various lodges in Electronic City and Whitefield areas of greater Bengaluru from the time they disappeared. The post mortem examinations have been completed and the bodies of both deceased have been handed over to their respective families.  The IO added, “We are still awaiting the post-mortem report. Based on that we will plan our investigations. We will go to Kerala in the coming days. There is nothing more that we can share as of now.” He also confirmed that no family members have been questioned yet. "If we find enough proof we will add the charge of abetment to suicide," the IO said.