Engineering student strangulates mother to death, arrested

Thiruvananthapuram: A 22-year-old engineering student was Thursday arrested for allegedly strangulating to death his mother and later burning her body in his house compound here, police said.

The arrested Akshay has confessed to the crime which occurred on Christmas day, district police chief S Prakash said.

Akshay suspected that his mother was involved in an illicit relationship, the police official said. He was also upset that his mother had refused to give him money for his fees, he said.

The 45-year-old woman Deepa Ashokan, an LIC agent, was living in the house along with her son, while her husband was in Muscat and also a daughter abroad.

A DNA test had confirmed that the body was that of Deepa.

Akshay burnt the body using kerosene at the place where his mother used to dispose garbage by burning and later informed the police that his mother was missing since Tuesday.