Vlogger couple found dead in Kerala, police investigate possible murder

A Malayali couple with modest YouTube following was found dead in their home in Parassala, Thiruvananthapuram. The police were looking into a possible murder as they found strangulation marks on the woman's neck.

In Short

• Vlogger couple found dead in their home by their son
• Police found strangulation marks on the woman’s neck
• Last video on YouTube had a cryptic goodbye soundtrack

A vlogger couple, with a modest YouTube following, was discovered dead at their home in Parassala, about 40 km from Thiruvananthapuram city. The bodies of the deceased, identified as 45-year-old Selvaraj and his wife 37-year-old Priya, were discovered by their son when he returned home.

Selvaraj was a mason, while Priya was said to have been involved in community activities, who ran a YouTube channel called ‘Sellu Family’ and had 18,000 followers. The two were natives of Cheruvarakonam village in Parassala. Their son, who works as a trainee in Ernakulam, found his parents’ bodies when he returned home on Sunday and immediately alerted the authorities.

According to police sources, Selvaraj was found hanging in the bedroom, while Priya was lying lifeless on the bed. Initial investigations suggested a suicide, but the postmortem report raised new questions, as strangulation marks were found on Priya’s neck.

The police were considering the possibility of homicide in the case. “We cannot confirm, right now, whether the woman was murdered. Doctors found strangulation marks on her body during the postmortem,” said a police official, who said the exact cause of death could be confirmed only after a chemical examination.

According to the police, when they reached the homicide spot, the woman’s body showed signs of decay, indicating she likely died hours before her husband. “The man is suspected to have died several hours after his wife’s death, based on the conditions of the bodies when discovered,” the official added.

The last video on their YouTube channel was posted two days ago with just the date ‘October 25, 2024’ as a title, reportedly just hours before their death. The 55-second-long video with the song ‘Vida parayukayaanenn janmam’ roughly translated from Malayalam as ‘This life is saying goodbye’, showed a montage of the couple’s photos.