ALAPPUZHA: Sasidharan, the contractor who undertook the construction of Sivankutty’s house in the SNDP LP School ward of Karuvatta panchayat, said he was shocked to learn about the murder.
While he termed Sivankutty “soft-spoken”, local residents said the family kept aloof from neighbours.
“I had been in contact with the family for nearly a year after taking up the construction of their house. A real estate dealer from Ambalappuzha introduced me to the family. Sivankutty was a soft-spoken man who always treated me politely. The house is barely 25m from the rented house where the family had been staying,” Sasidharan said.
Sasidharan described Sivankutty as a kind-hearted man who paid the construction workers regularly . “We didn’t have much interaction with the family beyond the construction work. Their elder daughter is in the Gulf and was sending money for the work,” the contractor said.
Ward member K R Rajan said the family generally maintained a distance from neighbours as well as local authorities.
He said the property was originally purchased from a family in Madapurackal by a real estate dealer from Ambalappuzha, who later sold it to Sivankutty. The family initially lived in a rented house owned by the dealer. Sivankutty later purchased 10 cents and began constructing houses for his two daughters.
“Both his daughters, including the mother of the accused girl, were working in the Gulf. One of the houses was nearing completion, while the foundation for the other had been laid,” Rajan said.
He said he had found it difficult to maintain regular contact with the family even as the ward member. “They generally preferred to maintain their distance from the panchayat authorities and local residents,” he said.
