Police arrested a 43-year-old man in Kerala’s Idukki district on Tuesday on charges of killing his mother and elder brother and burying them in their house compound near Nedumkandam, a senior officer said.
The accused, Saji, is in custody for the murder of his brother Reji (48) and 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 those of Mariocotti and Reggie, have been sent for DNA testing. The police exhumed the remains after Marikutty’s daughter Saini filed a complaint claiming that her mother and brother were missing.
Based on her complaint and the statements of neighbors and local residents, the police excavated the residential complex in Pachadi after noticing fresh loose soil and finding the remains.
Idukki Superintendent of Police KM Sabu Mathew told HT that the accused Saji confessed to committing the murders and burying the remains.
“The murders were likely committed in the first week of April. The accused, during interrogation, cited several reasons including property dispute and mental harassment for the murders. He claimed that the family did not allow him to marry a girl. We will check them during the investigation,” Mathew said.
He said the police would also investigate the disappearance of Marikutty’s husband, a missionary. Matthew 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,” Saini told reporters.
