Murder of a family planned on WhatsApp.
By The American Bazaar Staff
BANGALORE: An extra-marital affair between two IT workers in Kerala has all the trappings of a juicy beach read or a twisty film noir. But sadly, this true story has seen the tragic death of an elderly mother-in-law, the attempted murder of a loving husband, and the slaying of a four year-old girl.
Nino Mathew (34) and Anu Santhi (32) have been arrested by local police in Attingal, a municipality located in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, for the murder of Santhi’s mother-in-law and four year-old daughter, as well as the attempted murder of Santhi’s husband. The tale leading up the double homicide and attempted murder is a sordid one, which police are now piecing together.
According to reports, Santhi and Mathew, who is also married, were colleagues at the Dimensions Cybertech Pvt. Limited office at TechnoPark, when they met and fell in love. Despite their marital statuses, the two began an affair, which Mathew’s wife eventually found out about. Their relationship turned south after that, but did not end in separation or divorce, as the two remained married to raise their four year-old daughter.
Eventually, Mathew and Santhi decided that they could not go on any longer with the way things were, and decided to kill Santhi’s family so that she could be free of them. The idea, according to a report by India Today, was initially Mathew’s, but Santhi readily agreed to it. The two even communicated via WhatsApp, exchanging text messages detailing how the crime would go down.
Mathew was allegedly intent on killing Santhi’s whole family, in order to leave no loose ends. That means that the both lovers planned ahead of time to kill Santhi’s husband Lijeesh, mother-in-law Omana, and four year-old daughter Swastika.
On Wednesday, April 16, the plan went into motion. Around 12:30 PM that afternoon, Mathew came to Santhi’s home, under the guise of having been invited to discuss a marriage or wedding of some kind. Once inside, Mathew realized that Lijeesh was not there, so he told Santhi, who was at work, to call him and tell him to come home.
Once Mathew was alone in the house with Omana and Swastika, the killing began.
Mathew stabbed Swastika, killing her, and then stabbed Omana. Once both were dead, Lijeesh returned home. Mathew then tried to stab him, but was unable to kill him. Lijeesh ran out of the house, bloodied and screaming, and called attention to Mathew. Neighbors subdued him until police arrived and took him into custody; Santhi was arrested shortly thereafter.
Now, Mathew is facing charges of murder and attempted murder, while Santhi has been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and aiding and abetting a criminal. There is no set trial date announced, but the two lovers have left a wake of devastation behind them.
In addition to Mathew’s wife and daughter, Lijeesh is currently suffering from serious injuries sustained in the attack. He received severe stab wounds from Mathew, who was using a machete to stab and hack his victims that day. Mathew was also using a golf club to beat the victims before cutting them.
Police found that, in addition to text messages, the two had planned the murders with sketches of the house and surrounding area, to plan for potential escape routes should that be necessary. Additionally, Santhi reportedly bought chili powder to sprinkle around the crime scene, which would supposedly make it difficult for police to gather evidence.
Both Mathew and Santhi will remain in judicial custody until further notice.
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2 Comments
Nino in not 34 as stated in the report.
He is 40 (may be 41), was batch mate of someone I know.
There is a mistake. Nino was not subdued by neighbours. He escaped via the back door and went back home. In the meantime, Lijeesh was taken to the hospital by the neighbours. He told the neighbours that it was Nino since he had warned Anu Shanti to stop the affair. The police tracked Nino’s phone signal to his house where he was arrested while he was leaving to go back to the office. He must have assumed that Lijeesh died on way to hospital since he was hacked on his head. It was good response by the local police to nab him soon. Anyway its a shocking tragedy that has shook the city.