The Thiruvananthapuram Additional District and Sessions Court VII on Saturday framed charges against the accused in the sensational case involving the murder of a young woman and her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, who were allegedly pushed into the sea 15 years ago.Judge Anit Joseph read out the charges to the accused. The trial proceedings in the case will commence in October.Mahinkannu alias Manu, 45, a native of Poovar, and his wife Rukhiya, 38, are the first and second accused in the case respectively. They have been accused of murdering Divya, 23, who hailed from Maranalloor, and her daughter Gouri on August 18, 2011.According to the prosecution led by Special Public Prosecutor M. Salahudeen, Divya and Mahinkannu used to live together in a rented house at Ooruttambalam. When Divya became pregnant, Mahinkannu backed out of his promise of marriage and fled abroad. After giving birth, Divya’s relatives brought him home upon his return to the native place. It was later that Divya discovered Mahinkannu was already married, which led to continuous disputes between them. Gouri was born out of this relationship.On the day of the incident, Divya informed her mother, Radha, that she and her child were going out with Mahinkannu, following which the two went missing. Acting on a complaint from the family, the Maranalloor police launched an investigation. The probe revealed that Mahinkannu later fled abroad after claiming that Divya was in Velankanni and that he could bring her back.The prosecution stated that Mahinkannu took Divya and the child from Ooruttambalam in an autorickshaw via Poovar to a secluded beach near Erayumanthurai in Tamil Nadu, where he purportedly pushed them into the sea and murdered them. Two days later, the bodies of Divya and Gouri were recovered by the Tamil Nadu police from the Thengapattanam and Colachel shores in Tamil Nadu. The bodies were later identified when photographs of the unidentified corpses were shown to Divya’s sister, Sharanya.The prosecution informed the court that it is relying on 109 witnesses, 104 documents and 6 material objects in the case. The investigation and submission of the chargesheet were done by the Thiruvananthapuram District Crime Branch under the supervision of the then District Police Chief (Thiruvananthapuram Rural) D. Shilpa, Additional Superintendent of Police M.K. Zulfikar and Deputy Superintendent of Police K.J. Johnson. Published - August 01, 2026 07:53 pm IST