A man has claimed he accidentally cut his wife’s throat with a carving knife when a struggle broke out between them in their Cork city home.
Regin Parithapara Rajan (43) has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to murdering Deepa Dinamani (38) in Wilton in July 2023.
“I never had an intention to harm her in any way, not even to give her a slap. I wish I can turn back the clock. I wish she is alive,” he said.
Ms Dinamani, Mr Rajan and their five-year-old son had been living in Wilton for just four months when her body was found on July 14th, 2023. She died from blood loss after sustaining a 14cm “single swipe” cut to her throat.
In his evidence, Mr Rajan said he and his wife had been experiencing difficulties in their marriage, but he denied that she had ever asked for a divorce.
He said he and Ms Dinamani had an argument on July 14th, 2023 and she went to a bedroom. Mr Rajan said he wanted to get his passport from her but she refused to give it to him until she had returned from a trip to Dublin.
“I was a hostage. I left the room and went to my son’s bedroom. I was crying. I was depressed. I didn’t know what to do in my own home. I drank a few drinks,” he said.
Mr Rajan said he later went back to the bedroom to retrieve his passport and that his wife was holding her phone, dressed only in T-shirt. He said Ms Dinamani asked what he wanted, but he did not reply.
He said she picked up a carving knife, which he had purchased a few days earlier for cutting fish, that was in the bedroom.
“She took the knife from the table, I think, I am not sure, and told me to ‘go back’,” he added. “My immediate reaction was to take the knife from her.
“I took the knife. We had a struggle. The knife was in my hand and falling down, her throat got cut.”
Mr Rajan said there was “blood everywhere” and he did not know what to do. “I just tried to stop the blood from the neck. My mind was blank. I cannot think straight.”
Brian McInerney SC, for Mr Rajan, asked his client if he had told a 999 call taker, gardaí and a friend that he had stabbed his wife. He said this was the case.
Mr Rajan said he had become “suspicious” of his wife in the weeks prior to her death because “she was always on her phone” and arguing with him for “silly reasons”.
Sean Gillane SC, prosecuting, asked Mr Rajan if he had attacked his wife.
“She attacked me. I didn’t attack her,” he replied.
Mr Gillane asked the accused to explain how Ms Dinamani was cut from her ear lobe to the midpoint of her neck in a single swiping action. Mr Rajan said his wife was “really mad”.
“She would do anything to get the knife from me. It just happened in a fraction of a second. She pulled my hand, it happened during the fall.”
Mr Rajan was asked by Mr Gillane if he had sent texts to a man named Jay from his wife’s phone as she lay dying on the bed.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
Mr Gillane said the account the accused had given was a “contrivance” to avoid responsibility for what he had done.
“You purchased the knife. You researched knives. You removed your child from the house. You cut your wife’s throat in a single swiping movement which brought her life to an end and what you said is untrue,” counsel said.
Mr Rajan disagreed with his assessment.
The case continues.
