Reji held a grudge against her former employer
Indian Police have arrested a 51-year-old woman after nearly 27 years on the run for murdering her employer.
A native of Mavelikkara, Kerala, Reji – who also goes by the name Achamma – murdered 61-year-old housewife Mariamma in February 1990.
Mariamma lived with her husband and they ran a vegetable shop.
Then aged 18, Reji worked as a maid but her rude behaviour annoyed the couple.
The couple’s sons, who worked abroad, advised their parents to fire Reji and Mariamma did so.
Despite firing her, Reji continued to visit the house due to Mariamma’s generosity. However, Reji held a grudge against her former employer for dismissing her.
One day, Reji stabbed Mariamma. She then stole her necklace and earrings after severing her ears.
Police initially did not suspect Reji but after the victim’s husband told officers that she was their former employee, they questioned her.
Officers soon found out about the missing jewellery and Reji was arrested.
It was discovered that the victim had suffered nine stab wounds.
Despite Reji’s arrest, she was acquitted of murder in 1993.
The prosecution then filed an appeal in the Kerala High Court.
In September 1996, Reji was convicted of murder and was sentenced to life in prison. However, the sentencing was in her absence as she did not turn up.
Police subsequently launched a search for her and it was discovered that she evaded the police by moving from one place to another, taking up various jobs under different names.
During the search, it was found that Reji had married a Thuckalay native in 1999 when she was working as a housemaid in Kottayam.
She eventually returned to Kerala and settled down in the state, where she worked as a sales assistant.
There were also rumours that she died of Covid so police examined the list of people who died due to Covid and the details of vaccinated people.
Reji was eventually traced to a house in the village of Adivad.
Under the name ‘Mini Raju’, she lived with her husband and two children.
She was arrested by a police team led by Mavelikkara station house office C Sreejith, SI Prahladhan, senior CPOs Unnikrishna Pillai, Biju Muhammad, N S Subash, Sanju Mol, Muhammad Shefeeq, Arun Bhaskar and CPO Bindhu.
On June 26, 2023, Reji was sent to Thiruvananthapuram’s Women’s Jail to serve her life sentence.