The person, who was first named as an accused in the sensational Jisha murder case was found hanging on Saturday.
Thirty-seven-year-old Sabu was found hanging in the bedroom of his house at Kurumppampady near Perumbavoor. "It is presumed that the death happened between morning and noon. It is a case of suicide as per the preliminary investigation. The body is kept at Kalamassery Medical College for post mortem," Kurumppampady police told TNM. Sabu is a bachelor.
Sabu was first taken into custody in connection with the murder and rape of Jisha, a law student hailing from Perumbavoor in Ernakulam in April 2016. The police first listed the name of Sabu, an autorickshaw driver, in the mahassar report of the murder case.
He was named as an accused after the slippers were found from the murder scene. The police had interrogated Sabu many times as he was under the shadow of suspicion. Jisha's family also had raised suspicion about Sabu.
However, a major breakthrough in the case came when the police arrested 23 year-old Ameerul Islam, a migrant construction worker from Assam in June 2016. The police had then said that the DNA at the crime scene matched that of the accused.
Following Islam’s arrest, Sabu was not put on trial. Sabu had, however, later revealed that the police had beaten him in custody days after the murder.
In March this year, Islam’s defence lawyer BA Aloor filed a petition before court to stop the trial proceedings. He cited a report by Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau citing lapses in the investigation so far in the case.
The probe into Jisha’s death was first conducted by the SIT led by ADGP Padmakumar when the United Democratic Front was in power. After the Left Democratic Front came to power in May last year, a fresh probe was ordered. The SIT appointed by the LDF was headed by ADGP Sandhya.
The investigation had submitted a 1,500 page chargesheet in the case. Police had conducted six scientific tests, collected 75 pieces of material evidence, 125 documents and taken statements of around 105 people.