A chilling case of mass murder unfolded in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram on Monday when a 23-year-old man walked into a police station and claimed to have killed six people, including his mother, teenage brother, and girlfriend. Police have so far confirmed five deaths.
The murders took place at three different locations over a few hours on Monday evening. It came to light after the accused Affan surrendered at the police station and narrated the sequence of events.
Police confirmed the deaths of the 13-year-old brother Ahasan, grandmother Salma Beevi, paternal uncle Lateef, aunt Shahiha, and his girlfriend Farshana. The accused also informed the police that he had consumed poison. Following this, he was taken to the Medical College Hospital for treatment.
The series of murders, which reportedly took place during the day, unfolded in the night after the alleged accused Afan turned up before Venjaramoodu police station and confessed to the slaughter. He had claimed that he murdered six, but his seriously injured mother, Shemy, also a cancer patient, is battling for life at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College hospital.
Thiruvananthapuram rural SP K S Sudarsan said five deaths have been confirmed and one is critically injured. He said that three cases have been registered at two police stations. “The motive can be ascertained only after recording his statement in detail. There are indications about financial issues and gold was reportedly missing. Such aspects have to be verified. A hammer has been recovered from the crime site.” The officer said the murders took place between 10 am and six pm. The alleged accused was admitted to hospital after he claimed that he had consumed poison at the end of the killing spree.
According to police, Afan first killed his paternal grandmother Salma Beevi, a native of Pangode, reportedly in the morning. Later he travelled to another village S N Puram where his next targets were father Raheem’s brother Latheef and his wife Shahida. The murders at the suspect’s home at Pullampara reportedly took place in the evening. He bludgeoned to death 13-year-old younger brother Afsan and another woman, Farsana, reportedly his friend. His mother was also attacked, he was injured.
The bodies found at the suspect’s house had sustained heavy wounds on their heads. While the provocation for the murders is yet to be ascertained, a local, Shaji, said Afan’s friend Farsana was at house for the last two days and it seems there were problems in the family over it. He did not have any known history of criminal activities or drug abuse, he said.
Abdul Raheem, the father of the accused who works in Saudi Arabia, told a TV channel that he had financial issues, but that was not a matter of concern for his son. “He had been to Saudi on a visiting visa for six months and returned happily… He was not against clearing the debt by selling the property. My relatives had indicated about his affair with the woman but were not against the relationship. He had taken money from her.”
