THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Eight years after the state witnessed one of its most chilling mass murders, the drama behind the whole episode is gradually unravelling. Finding the sole accused, Cadell Jeansen Raja guilty, the Additional Sessions Court Thiruvananthapuram termed the crime “grave, serious, and numbing to the conscience.” It observed that the accused, who planned and executed the murders of his parents, sister and relative, does not deserve leniency of a well-functioning legal system.
Charged with murder, arson and destruction of evidence, Cadell had tried everything to blur the line between calculated cruelty and supposed delusion. From claiming to be an astral traveller to adopting erratic behaviour in prison, he spun a narrative to confuse, delay and evade. But bit by bit, the mask fell off.
His arrest at Thampanoor railway station on April 10, 2017, came just a day after police found the charred remains of his family. “Why have you brought me here?” he asked officers with unsettling calm. No signs of distress. No signs of remorse.
During his initial seven-day police custody, Cadell remained composed, answering questions normally and showing no symptoms of mental instability. A senior police officer recalled testing his cognitive state by casually asking him to name three flowers. “Lily...Lily...Lily. That’s what he said. I was surprised. He comes from a neighbourhood full of local flowers,” said the officer.
It was only later that his behaviour changed. He assaulted a fellow inmate in jail and was sent for psychiatric evaluation. Even then, the court heard, his odd conduct appeared more calculated than clinical. Initially, Cadell claimed that the murders were part of his experiment in astral projection, where he believed he could detach from his physical body and transcend the boundaries of the living world. But no evidence supported this claim.
Dr Mohan Roy, the psychiatrist who examined Cadell soon after the arrest, said the nature of the crime didn’t suggest psychosis. Cadell himself would later admit that the astral projection story was fabricated to mislead police. In private conversations with the psychiatrist, Cadell spoke about his hatred toward his father, whom he described as an alcoholic and emotionally abusive.
He resented his sister, he was irritated by his aunt, and had little to no emotional connection with his mother. Within the family, communication had broken down so severely that even questions like “Have you eaten?” were exchanged through text messages.
Well planned murders
Public prosecutor Dileep Sathyan told media that the case hinged on circumstantial evidence. Cadell’s own confession to the psychiatrist sealed the case. This was not the act of a man in a trance or gripped by hallucinations. It was methodical murders carried out in hatred.