IDUKKI: Sorcery and human sacrifice are words Keralites became familiar with after the Elanthoor case in 2022. Now, the revelations on the double murder uncovered at Kakkattukada in Kattappana points to the shocking fact that some individuals, and families, continue to be enslaved by sorcerers.
While the investigators were initially a bit puzzled about the statements given by the mentally unstable duo of Suma and Vidhya Vijayan, of Nellanickal house, that Vidhya’s father and her newborn were murdered, the confession on Saturday by Nitheesh, 31, of Puthanpurackal house, has helped unfold the mystery.
Sorcerer cast a spell on poor family
Everything was going well in Vidhya’s family — comprising her brother Vishnu, 27, and their parents, Vijayan and Suma — until she met Nitheesh while doing her postgraduate studies. “Nitheesh was a sorcerer and he brought the entire family under his influence through his witchcraft. Even the house owned by the family in Kattappana was sold as directed by him and the family have been staying at various rented houses in the region for the past several years,” an official with the intelligence wing told TNIE.
Nitheesh also influenced Vishnu and the theft attempted in Kattappana, during which they were caught red-handed by the police, was only one of a series of thefts the duo had executed according to the former’s direction. He also managed to keep the family secluded.
Even the local ward member, Rema Manoharan, told reporters she was unaware two women were staying in the house.
Affair & child’s murder
The first of the double murder confessed by Nitheesh was of his own four-day-old child.
As the child was born to Vidhya out of wedlock, Nitheesh told the police that he strangled the child to avoid dishonour and buried the body at the rented house in Sagara Junction in 2016. Since the family too feared social stigma, they kept the incident and Nitheesh’s other illegal activities a secret.
However, in August 2023, while they were staying at a rented house in Kakkattukada, Nitheesh entered into a verbal conflict with Vijayan during which he landed a fatal blow to the latter’s head with a hammer. Vijayan’s body was buried at the house in Kakkattukada, Nitheesh confessed.
As he expected Vidhya and Suma to one day reveal the incidents to someone, he kept them hidden from the public. Thus, when the police reached the Kakkattukada house, the two women were found locked up. The intelligence officer said Nitheesh’s activities and the secluded life left Vidhya and Suma mentally unstable.
The police shifted Suma to an old age home nearby while Vidhya was left to the care of her relatives. Vishnu remains under treatment at the Kottayam MCH.
Recovering bodies crucial
Despite all the confessions and statements, the recovery of the bodies of the newborn and Vijayan would prove crucial in the investigation process, the police said. As Nitheesh was received in police custody only by Saturday noon, the investigation team could not excavate the burial sites on the day. “We expect the proceedings to be completed the next day. The murder cases will stand only if the bodies are dug out,” the officer said.