A 43-year-old man has been arrested by police in Kerala’s Idukki district on Tuesday for reportedly murdering his mother and elder brother and burying them in the compound of their home near Nedumkandam, a top officer said.
The accused, identified as Saji, has been held on charges of killing his brother Reji (48) and his mother Marykutty (70) in the first week of April. He was arrested from an area near his home in Pachadi.
The arrest comes a day after police exhumed human remains from the compound where the family lived. The remains, suspected to be of Marykutty and Reji, have been sent for DNA examination. Police exhumed the remains after Marykutty’s daughter Sini filed a complaint claiming that her mother and brother were missing.
Based on her complaint and the statements from neighbours and locals, police dug up the compound in Pachadi after noticing fresh loose soil and came upon the remains.
Idukki Superintendent of Police KM Sabu Mathew told HT that the accused Saji has confessed to committing the murders and burying the remains.
“The murders were likely committed in the first week of April. The accused, during interrogation, listed several reasons including property dispute and mental harassment for the murders. He claimed that he was not allowed to marry a girl by the family. We will cross-check them during the investigation,” Mathew said.
{{/usCountry}}“The murders were likely committed in the first week of April. The accused, during interrogation, listed several reasons including property dispute and mental harassment for the murders. He claimed that he was not allowed to marry a girl by the family. We will cross-check them during the investigation,” Mathew said.
{{/usCountry}}The police, he said, will also probe the missing case of Marykutty’s husband Mathew, an evangelist. Mathew has been missing since May 2018.
“The police must make him (Saji) say what he did to my mother and brother and why he killed them. We strongly believe he killed them,” Sini told reporters.