Days after 5 murders rocked Kerala, police join the dots – a family in debt, an angry 23-year-old

The investigators said that he even stolen some jewellery from his paternal grandmother after she was killed and used it to repay some of his creditors before he continued with the killing spree that took place over a six-hour period.

After taking the statement of the accused, police now believe a financial crisis caused by rising debt had led to him taking the decision to go on the killing spree. They also believe that he had initially planned on the entire family dying by suicide, but then abandoned that idea.

“The family had been burdened by huge financial liabilities. We obtained evidence showing that the family owed a debt of Rs 65 lakh to 13 people. He had planned a family suicide, but then decided to kill everyone when he thought that plan would not succeed,” Superintendent of Police (Thiruvananthapuram rural) K S Sudarsan said.
While police saw the financial crisis as the overarching reason behind the killing spree, they believed the individual murders were motivated by different reasons – he was angered by some relatives who he blamed for not helping him with his financial issues, while others, he killed because he thought they wouldn’t be able to live without him, officers said.

“The debts kept piling up. It came to a stage where it became difficult for them (the family) to continue. After murdering his grandmother, Salma Beevi, Afan stole her gold chain and repaid Rs 40,000 to various persons using the money obtained from pledging the gold. This incident in between the crimes shows that the liabilities were a factor,” the SP Sudarsan said.

According to the officer, on Monday morning, Afan strangled his mother and locked her in a room, believing she was dead, before leaving home and purchasing a hammer. With that, he headed to a nearby village where his grandmother was living alone.

“Afan used to demand gold ornaments from the paternal grandmother, but she refused to part with them. This was the provocation for killing her. After the murder, he stole one of her gold chains,” the SP said.

Afan’s uncle, Latheef, used to warn him against his lavish lifestyle, the police officer said. “Afan had also sought money from Latheef, but he did not get it. This had provoked the murder of Latheef and his wife Sajitha.” After murdering the couple in another village, he returned home in the evening, the SP said.

Back home, he found that his mother was still alive and attacked her again, this time with the hammer, according to police. Then he bludgeoned to death the woman he was in a relationship with and then his younger brother. Finally, he consumed poison.

The SP said the investigation so far has not pointed to any long conspiracy behind the killings.

“Even after the killings, he did not show any regret. Our field reports did not show he was involved in any crimes in the past… His mobile phone will be examined to ascertain his online activities,” Sudarsan said.

While police are yet to determine how the family incurred debts of Rs 65 lakh, local residents suggest Afan had a lavish lifestyle without any source of income.

“His father, Abdul Raheem, was in debt in Saudi Arabia and he did not send any money back home after the pandemic days. His family, with no source of income, survived by taking debts over the years. Afan, who attended a degree course, did not have a job. But the financial constraints never reflected in their life,” said Shaji, a neighbour.

Meanwhile, Raheem, who had been facing a travel ban in Saudi Arabia for the last seven years, managed to reach Kerala on Friday following the intervention of social workers.