A MAN accused of murdering his wife believed she was in contact with other men and was possibly cheating on him after he found she was on social media describing herself as separated but not divorced and interested in meeting someone, a murder trial heard today.
Regin Parithapara Rajan, 43, has pleaded not guilty to murdering 38-year-old Deepa Paruthiyezhuth Dinamani at their home at Cardinal Court, Wilton, Cork on July 14, 2023, contrary to common law.
Mahesh Murali, who worked with the defendant in Kerala in India, said Rajan had a suspicion that his wife was cheating on him.
He had sent him a screenshot from his wife’s social media page stating she “was separated, not divorced, had a five-year-old son and was looking for someone to have a good conversation with to begin with” and outlining her hobbies.
Mr Murali said Rajan told him they were having problems in their marriage and it had been similar in India.
He was unhappy about the post and believed she might be cheating on him. He said she would regularly “scold” him.
He told him to give her space and that the problem might resolve itself.
Rajan was depressed and worried as he did not want the breakup of his marriage.
But Deepa had told him to leave their bedroom and that she was looking for a divorce.
On July 14, 2023, Rajan asked Mr Murali to collect his son from summer camp as he had a job interview and his wife had a team dinner.
The witness, along with his wife Sreeja Sumangala, picked up the five year-old and brought him for some takeaway food in Ballincollig before taking him home.
When Rajan did not come to get the child, he tried without success to contact his father on the phone.
‘I KILLED DEEPA’
The couple decided to drive to the house in Wilton, where they met the defendant and another friend, a nurse who had previously shared a house with them.
She was concerned about the housing crisis and was upset so they went for a walk.
On returning they met Rajan and Mr Murali smelled alcohol, saw his eyes were red and thought he was drunk.
He said Rajan asked to speak to him in private and told him in their own language: ‘I killed Deepa, you can call the police or guards.’
‘SHOCKED AND SHATTERED’
He said: “I was just shocked and shattered. I came back to the ladies. I told them he told me he killed Deepa. They were shocked and started crying.
“I asked him ‘how did you kill Deepa?’ He told me he stabbed her with a knife.”
Sreeja Sumangala after hearing about the killing said she asked Rajan ‘why did you do that? He said ‘She was not good’.”
Karen Allen, who found the Cardinal Court property for the family, said she found Deepa to be “very bubbly, and outgoing. She was successful. Her husband was shy and quiet”.
Replying to defending senior counsel Brian McInnerney, she agreed when he said it appeared Deepa wore the trousers in the family and replied she was very confident and she was fond of the victim.
The trial before Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and a jury of seven women and five men continues.
