PALAKKAD: A 57-year-old man killed his son by hitting him on his head with a hammer in their house at Pudukad near Palakayam in Mannarkad here. Jose, alias Chackochan, of Kaduvakuzhi house was arrested for killing his son Jibin, alias Unnikochu, 29, in his sleep. The incident came to light on Wednesday. The police said Jose owns 300 rubber trees. On Tuesday, after setting up shades for the trees, Jose and Jibin, both engaged in manual labour, decided to celebrate with drinks.
It is alleged Jibin used to quarrel with his father regularly and hit him. This happened on Tuesday night too after which Jibin went to sleep. However, Jose woke up later, took a hammer and hit Jibin while he was asleep, killing him. Jose then went back to sleep. On Wednesday morning, Jose went to Jiju, his other son who lived nearby, and confessed to killing Jibin as the latter used to regularly beat him up. He asked Jiju to inform the police. Jiju rushed to the house and after seeing Jibin dead, informed the police. The police arrived around 7.15am and arrested Jose.
“Fights used to break out in the house regularly. The wives of both Jose and Jibin lived separately following differences with their husbands. While Jose’s wife Elsamma had left a few years ago, Jibin’s wife went to her house in Kottayam a year ago,” said a local resident. The father-son duo had been living alone in the house since. Besides Jibin and Jiju, Jose and Elsamma have a daughter who lives with her husband.
A team of police comprising DySP E Sunil Kumar, Special Branch DySP P C Biju Kumar, Kalladikode CI Shijo Varghese, sub-inspectors Zulfiqar Mullunkattil and Ramachandran besides forensic experts visited the spot. Jibin’s body was handed over to relatives after autopsy.