Kerala police arrest a construction worker who confessed to strangling his wife and burying her near an under-construction house in Ayarkunnam; motive suspected to be suspicion of affair.

A murder in Kerala that police say was carried out in a “‘Drishyam’-style” has ended with the arrest of a West Bengal native accused of killing his wife and burying her body near an under-construction house in Ayarkunnam. The accused, identified as 31-year-old Soni SK, reportedly worked as a construction labourer at the site and was detained after police grew suspicious of his delayed missing-person complaint. CCTV checks and a tip-off led officers to recover the body where Soni said he had buried her.
Investigators say Soni confessed that he strangled his 28-year-old wife, Alpana Khathoon, and struck her on the head with an iron rod on the morning of October 14. He then allegedly buried the body near the workplace and lodged a missing-person report three days later. Police caught Soni at Ernakulam railway station as he attempted to leave for West Bengal with his children; he will be produced before a magistrate as the probe continues.
Local reporting highlights the familiar pattern in many domestic homicide cases: rapid escalation of marital discord, suspicion of an extramarital affair cited as motive, staging of disappearance and initial attempts to mislead investigators. Key angles readers search for after such breaking stories include: “‘Drishyam’-style murder meaning,” “Ayarkunnam murder accused name Soni SK,” “how police traced buried body CCTV tip off,” and “staged missing person complaint Kerala.” Short-tail queries likely to attract traffic: “Kerala murder,” “Ayarkunnam burial,” “husband confesses murder.” This package blends the arrest facts, police timeline, alleged motive and investigative leads so readers get a clear, factual account while matching high-intent long-tail and short-tail search phrases.