Teenage girl killed, cousin found dead in Kozhikode

Kozhikode: A 16-year-old girl was allegedly murdered by her maternal cousin at her home in Chelavoor, Kozhikode early Tuesday. The 20-year-old cousin was later found dead in the home with packing tape wrapped around his head. The deceased are Nasreena and Adnan, both hailing from Kozhikode.Police said Adnan was staying at the house in Chelavoor over the past few months and Nasreena had caught him while he was stealing money. An officer said the youth was made to stay with his relatives due to his shady behaviour. After he stole some money from his relatives, he was made to leave the house. He said the grudge Adnan nursed against Nasreena over this incident led to her murder."The autopsy said Nasreena was smothered and strangulated. The autopsy of the youth showed no defensive wounds or injuries on his face or lips which indicated that he was forcefully smothered. Prima facie, it is a suicide. He may have wrapped the packing tape repeatedly around his head to cause self-asphyxiation," said the officer, adding that the packing tape was nearly 4 inches wide and quite sticky.Police also recovered CCTV footage from the house which showed that Adnan had arrived there late on Monday evening. He had even turned the camera away to mask his entry. "As per our investigation, he must have entered the house before the backdoor was closed. The family used to have dinner in the courtyard and he must have sneaked in and hidden somewhere for quite some time," he said.The attack must have happened after his relatives left the house. "The victim's mother and grandmother were sleeping downstairs. The grandmother heard some noise and called all relatives who live nearby," said the officer.The family then went upstairs and saw the girl unconscious in one room. "Suspecting that someone is hiding in the other room, the family locked the door from the outside and took the girl to a hospital," said the officer.After police were alerted, they reached the house and found that the door of the room was locked from the inside. Police then broke open the door to find the youth's dead body. Police said a detailed autopsy report is awaited to get better clarity on the chain of events.