Thiruvananthapuram: According to the police, Ranjith (31), the accused in Maya Murali murder case had relationships with many women. The police said that he beat the 39-year-old woman to death when he realised that she would leave him. 

Ranjith, an auto-driver hailing from Kudappanakunnu, was arrested two weeks after Maya’s death. He was arrested from Cumbum in Theni District of Tamil Nadu. 

Maya was found murdered on the morning of May 9 in a rubber plantation near her house at Muthiyavila. Rajith had been absconding since then. After abandoning his auto and mobile phone, Rajith roamed around areas like Kudappanakunnu and Neyyattinkara in Thiruvananthapuram. Footage received by the police confirmed this. A lookout notice was issued by the police for Ranjith.

Maya was planning to go back to her own home due to the constant harassment from Ranjith's side. She had also informed her relatives of the same. Police said that the couple had an altercation even the day before the murder. According to them, Ranjith came to know about Maya's plan to leave him and he killed her.

Kattakada DySP said in a press conference that the accused was working in a hotel in Theni when he was nabbed. Ranjith was in an inebriated state even at the time of arrest.  After changing his clothes and destroying his mobile phone, Ranjith fled to Tamil Nadu by getting lift in lorries and other vehicles, he added.

Police said that there were no other cases against the accused. According to the police, Ranjith was involved with many women and he used to get rid of them by brutally beating them. None of these women filed complaints as they were afraid of Ranjith. Kattakada DySP said that one of the women beaten by Ranjith is a witness in this case.

Ranjith became acquainted with Maya a year ago when he started driving Maya’s father’s autorickshaw. He established a friendship with Maya, who was a widow, and they began living together. As per Maya's relatives, Ranjith used to thrash her regularly.