Sex worker found murdered at a house in Kochi, owner arrested

Ernakulam: In a shocking case, a woman was found dead inside the compound of a house in Konthuruthy in Kochi early today.

Ernakulam Town South police have arrested the house owner on charges of murder. The accused has been identified as George, a palliative care worker.

The police later confirmed that the victim was a sex worker whom George had brought home the previous night.

The body was found around 6.30 am by workers of the Harithakarma Sena who arrived for routine garbage collection at the residence. They found the woman lying on the tiled courtyard, her head covered with a plastic sack, with bloodstains visible nearby. George was sitting close to the body when they arrived.

The workers immediately alerted local councillor Bency Benny, who informed the police. The Ernakulam South Police detained George for questioning and subsequently confirmed him as the accused.

According to police, the murder took place following a quarrel over money late Friday night.

Sanitation worker recalls the site of the incident

What began as an ordinary early-morning shift for Harithakarma Sena worker K J Mani turned into the most terrifying moment of her 15 years on the job. At 6.30 am on Saturday, while bending down to pick up a garbage bucket outside a house in Konthuruthy, she peered through the gaps of a closed gate and saw something that froze her in place. The houseowner, 65-year-old K K George, was sitting on the tiled corridor floor, and beside him, the body of a woman lying motionless with her head covered by a plastic sack.

Mani, who had arrived with her husband Girijan and son Devilal for the day’s routine garbage collection after starting from Kumbalangi around 3 am, said she instantly felt something was terribly wrong.