Key Points:
Govindachamy escaped from the Kannur Central jail on 25 July 2025.
He was convicted for the rape and murder of 23-year-old Soumya in 2011.
Police arrested Govindachamy after finding him hiding in a well in the Talap area.
Govindachamy, convicted for the 2011 rape and murder of 23-year-old Soumya, was recaptured on Friday, July 25, 2025, just hours after escaping from Kannur Central Jail. He was found hiding inside a well behind the office of the National Sample Survey in the Talap neighbourhood around 11 a.m., following a hours-long manhunt.
Kannur Superintendent of Police P. Nidhin Raj said, “We got the information that he had escaped around 6.30 a.m. The information was relayed to all the wings of the police. The public was alerted through the media. We analysed CCTV visuals in the city and got a lot of input from the public. He was found hiding inside a well of an abandoned compound in Talap.”
The one-armed convict, Govindachamy, a native of Tamil Nadu, had escaped from his cell in the 10th block of the prison early in the morning. He allegedly sliced open the bars of his jail cell and used a rope made of clothes to scale the 25-foot boundary wall of the central prison. A preliminary inquiry has identified lapses in supervision.
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Further investigation into the prison break and administrative lapses is underway. The suspended officials so far are Assistant Jail Superintendent Rejo, Deputy Prison Officer Rejish, and Assistant Prison Officers Sanjay and Farith.
What was the 2011 Soumya Rape case about?
Govindachamy was convicted for the assault and rape of Soumya, a native of Shornur in Palakkad district. On February 1, 2011, Soumya boarded the Ernakulam–Shornur passenger train.
As the train left Vallathol Nagar railway station, Govindachamy allegedly assaulted her, slamming her head against the compartment wall multiple times before pushing her off the moving train. He then jumped off the train, found her injured near the tracks, carried her to nearby woods, and raped her.
Soumya, who worked as a supermarket assistant in Ernakulam, was found unconscious near the railway tracks. She succumbed to her injuries five days later, on February 6, 2011, at Thrissur Government Medical College. [Rh/Eth/VS]
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