Representational.
Alappuzha/Kerala: Police in Kerala on Monday found more human remains at a house in Pallippuram, Cherthala, as part of an investigation into the disappearance of at least four middle-aged women over nearly two decades, reports PTI.
About 20 charred bones were recovered from a spot different to where body parts were discovered last week, police sources said.
Officers, accompanied by cadaver dogs and forensic experts, searched ponds, marshland and the compound of the 2.5-acre property. Clothes were also recovered from a pond.
The searches are linked to Sebastian, aged 68, who is in custody and suspected of involvement in three of four cases of middle-aged women who went missing from Cherthala between 2006 and 2025. The house and the land where it is located were learned to be owned by Sebastian, who was arrested last week in connection with the disappearance of Jainamma. Jainamma is a native of Ettumanur in Kottayam district, who went missing in December 2024, according to the Times of India. Sebastian is known to be a real estate broker. He was brought to the property for evidence collection, but is said to have made contradictory statements.
Investigators are considering breaking open the floor of a recently tiled granite room and will carry out DNA tests to identify the remains.
Police suspect that he may have harmed the women, including Jainamma and Ayesha, who disappeared a decade ago. Remains of a charred body were first recovered from Sebastian’s property during an investigation into Jainamma’s disappearance. While Jainamma’s siblings’ blood samples were collected for DNA testing, the autopsy of the recovered dead body remains is being conducted at Kottayam Medical College.
The investigation is being led by the Kottayam unit of the State Crime Branch.
Sebastian is a suspect in the cases of more women who went missing in the region between 2006 and 2025, including one Bindu Padmanabhan of 47 years of age