MALAPPURAM: In a gruesome incident, a 52-year-old man on Thursday killed his wife and daughter at Keezhattur near Perinthalmanna after setting fire to his goods autorickshaw in which the victims were trapped. Jasmin, 37, and Fathimath Safa, 11, the wife and daughter, respectively of Thechiyoden Muhammed are the deceased, police said. While setting the vehicle ablaze, the leaping flames also spread to the body of accused Muhammed. Though he jumped into a nearby well to douse the flames, the attempt failed and he too died. However, the police have not confirmed whether Muhammed died of burns or drowned to his death.
Meanwhile, one of Jasmin’s sisters managed to rescue Shifana, the five-year-old daughter of Jasmin and Muhammed, from the vehicle. The sister pulled Shifana out of the burning vehicle and the child was rushed to a private hospital nearby. Shifana was later shifted to Kozhikode MCH for treatment of burns. The child has been put on ventilator support at the MCH.
Melattur police said that the incident occurred at Kondipparambil on the Pandikkad-Perinthalmanna route around noon. Jasmin and her three daughters were staying at her house at Kondipparambil since the beginning of Ramzan. Though Muhammed hails from Karuvarakund, the family has been living in Kasaragod for the past 11 years. Police suspect domestic issues might have prompted the extreme act.
“On Thursday, Muhammed reached the house of Jasmin. He took Jasmin and his two daughters to the autorickshaw parked 200 m away. He later locked them inside the vehicle and doused them as well as the vehicle with some liquid -- kerosene, petrol, or diesel -- which can be ascertained only through detailed investigation. While setting fire to the vehicle, Muhammed’s body also caught fire. To put out the flames, he jumped into a well nearby. Around this time, a sister of Jasmin reached there and extricated Shifana from the vehicle,” said Melattur circle inspector Sharon C S.
The circle inspector also confirmed that the incident was part of an attempt by Muhammed to kill his family. During the incident, a 19-year-old daughter of the couple was inside the house. She escaped the carnage as she refused to accompany her father to the autorickshaw. The police officer also suspect that Muhammed used some explosives to burn the vehicle down.
Muhammed was facing sexual assault charge in Kasaragod
AM Muhammed, 52, who allegedly triggered the explosion in a small goods carrier and killed his wife Jasmine and their 11-year-old daughter Fathimath Safa, was facing charges of child sex crime in Kasaragod’s Melparamba police station.
Before moving to Perinthalmanna, the family stayed in a rented house at Kayarthotti near Koliyadukkam in Perumbala under Melparamba police station. Police said he used to sell fish in his small commercial vehicle in hill panchayats. On November 28, 2020, Melparamba police station got a complaint that he had sexually assaulted a minor girl, said an officer.
Police charged him under the relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and arrested him. He spent 200 days in Kasaragod prison as an undertrial in the case before he was granted bail. The case is before the Pocso special court in Kasaragod.