Missing girls’ bodies found on railway tracks near Ottappalam in Palakkad

PATHANAMTHITTA: Mystery surrounds the death of two teenage girls, whose bodies were found on the railway tracks near Ottappalam in Palakkad on Monday morning.

Another girl, who had also gone missing from Konni three days ago along with the other two, has been admitted to Thrissur Medical College Hospital with serious head injuries.

A youth, who is said to be their Facebook friend, was taken into police custody in connection with the incident.

The deceased were identified as S. Raji, 16, of Puthenparambu, Thengumkavu, and Athira R. Nair, 16, of Tirumala house at Airavan, Konni.

The injured girl is Arya K. Suresh, 16, of Thoppil, Airavan. All were Plus-One students of GHSS, Konni.

The bags carried by the girls were recovered by the railway police from the Bangalore- Nagarcoil Island Express at Nagercoil.

The bodies were found between Mankara and Lakkidi railway stations around 7.30 in the morning by locals.

The police have not confirmed whether it was suicide or an accident. Athira had her house address scribbled on her hand, which helped identify them.

The bodies were released to the relatives after autopsy and inquest at the medical college. A police team from Konni also reached the spot for further inquiry.

The girls had left their homes for the school, wearing school uniforms on July 10 morning. Since they did not return after school, the parents lodged a complaint with the Konni police. There are also reports that the girls had boarded Kerala Express train from Mavelikkara station.

According to sources, they did not face any problems in their homes. All of them excelled in their studies and had bagged full A-plus for the SSLC examinations last year.

The police had issued look-out notices on Sunday and also posted their pictures on social media.

Thrissur: A youth was taken into custody by Konni police on Sunday night from Perambra near Chalakudy after his phone number figured in the call list of one of the dead girl’s mobile phone.

According to Kodakara police, the youth was in touch with this girl on Facebook and even had plans to meet her at Pathanamthitta on July 10, Friday.

However he rang her up on the day she could not be reached. Konni police after tracing his mobile took him into custody for further questioning.