Woman found dead in Wilton texted man her marriage 'was the biggest mistake of her life', court hears
Regin Parithapara Rajan is charged with the murder of his wife, Deepa Dinamani, at Cardinal Court, Wilton Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins
The 38-year-old woman who was found dead with her throat cut at her home in Wilton texted days earlier that her marriage was the biggest mistake she made in her life, it emerged on Tuesday at her husband’s murder trial.
The deceased communicated by phone with another Indian national, who was based in London, through the Match dating site, and through WhatsApp in the weeks before her death.
And this man, Prasad Jayarathinam, gave evidence in the trial on Tuesday at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork, where 43-year-old Regin Parithapara Rajan, denies the single charge of murdering his wife, 38-year-old Deepa Paruthiyezhuth Dinamani, at their home at Cardinal Court, Wilton, Cork, on July 14, 2023.
Deepa’s profile described her as separated but not divorced, the mother of a five-year-old boy and it described her interests as including cooking, reading and yoga.
The witness described her as confident and very caring and he expressed his condolences to her family on her death. He also said he never met her in person, most of their communications being by WhatsApp and a small number of voice calls.
Seán Gillane, prosecution senior counsel, asked if her marriage was mentioned. “She said it was the biggest mistake she made in her life,” Mr Jayarathinam said.
At the end of his direct evidence, he said he “noticed some sort of abnormality” in the texts from Deepa’s phone on the day of her death, including the last message from her phone, the texted word "Yups".
Defence senior counsel Brian McInerney cross-examined the witness and said both the prosecution and defence had engaged in a forensic analysis of phone messages and communications.
The witness agreed Deepa had texted him to say she had deleted some messages between them, and then added she said she deleted or was going to do so.
Mr McInerney read a number of messages of an intimate and sexual nature between them and a reference to on Netflix, and a comment from Deepa: “You make me blush.” The witness said a number of times he and Deepa had never met in person and the text conversations between them were "fantasy" in nature.
At one point in the cross-examination, Mr McInerney said: “It would appear that she has asked you to look at something and delete it… could it be that she sent pictures of herself on WhatsApp.”
The witness said there were pictures and that it was fantasy.
While asking about the photographs and the answers about it being fantasy, Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford interrupted at one point and said to the counsel for the accused: “That is bordering on sarcastic and unnecessary, your line of questioning. While you are entitled to cross-examine, he is giving his evidence in a straightforward manner. Please keep your remarks as uncomplicated as possible.”
Mr McInerney referred to one text from Deepa saying: “Jay, I love you”, and the witness replying by text, “Love you, Deepa.”
He said they never video-called each other and
they were only texting each other for a matter of weeks before her death.
The prosecution closed its case on Tuesday. The trial continues.
