THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Anchuthengu police have initiated procedures for a DNA test to confirm the identity of the person, whose putrefying body was found in a well of a house at Plavizhakam here a week ago. Police suspect the body belongs to Rajan (52), who has been missing since March 1 this year. The body found from the well also appeared to be three to four months old based on the level of decay.
Anchuthengu station house officer inspector S Chandradas said that samples were collected from Rajan’s children for DNA matching. The samples will be forwarded to the forensic science lab here along with the findings of a diatom test, the result of which is expected to be received on Monday.
“Since the body was in a decaying stage, it was not possible to know whether the deceased had any external injuries, which might have happened in an attack or an accident. Hence the importance of the diatom test," the inspector said, adding that if the diatom test result is negative, it would mean that someone else might have harmed the deceased.
The body was found in the 140 feet deep well in the compound of an uninhabited house that is approximately around a kilometre away from Rajan’s house last Tuesday. The owners of the house lived abroad and were planning to return soon. The labourers they employed to clean the house and well ahead of their return, found the dead body. When they tried to pull out the motor pump fitted inside the well for cleaning, they found the body tangled onto the pump.
Rajan was working at a restaurant at Anchuthengu and police have recovered surveillance camera footage in which he can be seen leaving the restaurant after work on the night of March 1.
