KOCHI: A pall of gloom descended on Mookkannur when the bodies of the three members of a family, who were hacked to death on Monday, were brought to the village, with the family members and relatives wailing inconsolably.The bodies of Sivan, 60, of Arackal House, Erappe; his wife Valsa, 56, and Smitha, 33, who were murdered by Sivan's brother over a property dispute, were first brought to their ancestral house by Tuesday afternoon after the autopsy. While Sivan and Valsa were buried at the Kidangoor SNDP burial ground, Smitha's body was taken to her husband's house at Edalakkad, around 3 km from the ancestral house at Mookkannur, for performing the last rites.
The children of Smitha, who had arrived at Mookkannur a couple of days ago to perform 'bali' rituals for her grandmother on Sivarathri, were inconsolable. According to neighbours, she arrived here three days ago along with her kids to perform 'bali' rituals as her parents had planned to perform the rites at Aluva Manappuram. Her husband, working in Kuwait, reached here by Tuesday morning for the funeral.Smitha's children Ashwin and Aparna were injured in the attack while another kid, Atul, escaped from the scene. People from all walks of life attended the funeral. The police didn't bring accused Babu to the crime spot for collection of evidence fearing public anger.
Weapon recovered
The police recovered the machete used for the attack and the scooter used by the accused to escape from the crime spot from the pond at Chirangara. The police had taken the accused into custody when he reportedly tried to commit suicide by riding the two-wheeler into the public pond at Chirangara. On Monday afternoon, Babu barged into the house of Shivan with a machete and hacked his brother and wife inside the house and attacked their daughter and her twin children. While three died on the spot, the kids were rushed to hospital by the neighbours.